Star Crossed
by GrittyRe-boot
Summary: AU: Protecting Rachel Berry isn't just Finn Hudson's job, it's his life, until he crosses a line that costs him everything.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: You can blame the economy for the fact that I have so much free time this summer, my hours at work being cut to hell combined with having no money to go out has given me lots of time to write fanfic. Enjoy it now, come this fall I'll be back in school working my ass off to get out of this crappy situation of mine. About the story, I know that Finn as Rachel's bodyguard has been done before (a lot), but hopefully not quite like this. And while we're on the subject of stealing ideas this also promises to be quite different from City of Fallen Angels, my last glee clubber as a superstar who falls for the help story, I've had this idea for awhile and I really hope you like it. As for The Day The Music Died, I should have another chapter posted either today or tomorrow, I just tend to get bored working on one story at a time these days.**

She was fantastic that night, granted she was always fantastic, but if it were possible she was even better than usual, in spite of how noticeably tired and frustrated she'd been backstage. The way she sang with so much passion and nearly set the piano on fire with her skillful playing brought tears to his eyes. Watching her always made his heart beat a little harder but this was different somehow. It was like the audience of thousands didn't even exist, like she was playing just for him.

It wasn't the delusional wishful thinking of a starstruck employee, He and Rachel had been going strong for the past three months. He hadn't meant for it to happen, he knew the moment they kissed for the first time how wrong it was, and how much trouble they could both get into if they were caught. Fraternization was strictly against the rules, he was hired to protect Rachel, nothing more, but he couldn't help himself around her.

It wasn't just that she was beautiful and famous, she was so much more than that, she was his best friend, he could talk to her about anything and she talked to him about everything, and she was smart, so much smarter than anyone gave her credit for, and behind her well-documented diva persona was the kindest heart that she never failed to let him into, and above all she just had this infectious way about her, something that shone from the inside and got right under his skin and stayed there.

So on one none to special night after she played Austin and she was so beat that he practically had to carry her to her tour bus, she kissed him, just once, out of the blue. It was then, at that very moment that he knew he was in love with her, hopelessly, passionately, madly in love with her. Even if he sometimes had his doubts that she felt the same way, why would she? He had nothing to offer her. He didn't have the kind of money that she was used to, he wasn't famous, he wasn't exactly a genius, he was handsome enough he supposed, but Rachel was a goddess and he was a mere mortal, yet she chose him, she trusted him, sometimes he even got the feeling that she loved him too. And if the wrong person found out then he was a dead man.

"I am so glad today is finally over," Rachel said, trying to keep her happy face on for as long as it took to get through the crowd after having finished her set.

"You were so amazing," Finn said, resisting the urge to hug her in public. "I don't understand how you do it It's like you're not even human or something," He continued, leading her towards the car as she greeted her fans and signed autographs

"Years and years of practice," she said as humbly as she could manage.

"No that's more than practice," Finn said. "Okay everybody try to keep a safe distance!" he barked as they began to swarm her a bit.

"Miss Berry, might I just say how beautiful you both looked and sounded this evening," said a bespectacled, ginger haired young man that she had become rather familiar with in the passing years.

"Thank, you you're very kind," she said quickly as she and Finn made their way to the car.

"Wasn't that guy in Denver?" Finn whispered to her.

"And St. Louis, just keep walking."

"Ms. Berry can I please have an article of your clothing for my collection?" he called after her as they continued to move through the crowd.

"Okay, you're going to have to back off buddy," Finn said sternly, blocking her as the limo pulled up.

Before he could protest they ducked into the limo, and as soon as the driver could close the door she pounced on Finn. Capturing his lips in hers and closing the partition with her pointy heel before the driver could get around to the other side.

"Ms. Berry, wait." Finn said gently pushing her off.

"Please don't call me that," she said. "It's so creepy."

"I'm sorry but I told you we can't do this here."

"Why? Nobody can see us," she said, pulling him by the lapels and attacking his lips with hers again.

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled into her mouth. "But I'm still on duty."

"But I want you now," she pouted, breaking the kiss. "I've been doing interviews and signings without a moment to myself all week, I've earned it."

"I want you too, like crazy," he said, his gaze practically burning into her.

"Then have me," she whispered, climbing onto him and planting soft kisses on his neck.

"Ms. Berry…" he moaned, trying and failing to keep it together.

"Rachel," she insisted.

"Rachel, I told you, not while I'm on duty, I just feel weird about the fact that I'm getting paid to grope you in the back of a limo." He said under his breath.

"Well from now on consider this a part of your job, touch me Finn," she said, grabbing his large hand in hers and placing it on her small, round breast.

"Fuck it," Finn said pulling her into his arms and kissing her with abandon, plunging his tongue into her willing mouth and running his hands up and down the expanse of her slender body.

"The hotel's fifteen minutes from here, do you think we can sneak one in?" She whispered sultrily into his ear.

"What's gotten into you?" he said, kissing her softly.

"I don't know, you just do strange things to me," she said, reaching for his belt buckle and sighing softly into his mouth.

"Wait, Rachel I need to talk to you about something," he said, sitting up.

"The one time I don't feel like talking that's all you want to do," she said, crossing her arms.

"Look, Rachel this thing that were doing, what is this exactly?"

Her face went serious at that point, "What do you mean? You're not breaking up with me are you?"

"No, no of course not, I love… being with you," he said, stopping himself.

"Than what's wrong, you seem weird tonight."

"Well, I'm crazy about you, and sometimes I think you're crazy about me too. But other times, I don't know, I feel like you're in this for the excitement of breaking the rules and not, you know because you…"

"Because I love you too?" Rachel said.

"Well, yeah, not that I love you or anything I mean I never said it," he rambled. "Did I say it? Because I thought I covered that up pretty well."

"Finn, I do love you."

"Thank god because I totally love you too," he said closing the distance between them once again.

"Now will you please have sex with me?" she said as their lips parted. "It's weird that I have to ask more than once."

"Sure, no problem," he said unbuckling his belt and pulling his pants down as she pulled her panties off from under her skirt.

"Thank you Finn, I know how seriously you take your job but you have no idea how much I need this," she said as he lowered his body onto hers. "This has literally been the worst day of my life."

"You wouldn't know that by the way you sang," he said as he entered her.

"I was thinking of you," she said, wrapping her legs around his hips and digging her stilettos into his bare ass as he glided in and out of her, trying not to knock over the ice bucket with his freakishly long legs. "I swear it was the only thing that kept me from breaking down up there, some days are just so overwhelming. Oh yeah, that's good, don't stop Finn," She moaned.

"I'm sorry you had a bad day," he panted as he continued to thrust into her. "Oh god this feels awesome, oh man," he sighed, burying his face in her neck. "How much time do we have?"

She checked her watch behind his head. "Eight minutes," she said. "Come on Finn keep going, oh yes, harder."

"Oh shit," he said as the limo stopped at the light and they rolled onto the floor still intertwined.

"Sorry Finn said," glancing at the fallen ice bucket.

"It's okay just leave it," she said lowering her body onto his and planting a long kiss on his lips as she rode him.

"You don't think he can hear us do you?" Finn said breaking the kiss and turning his gaze toward the partition.

"No, it's soundproof," Rachel said.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yes! Forbidden sex with my bodyguard is so amazing!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Shh, Okay, you made your point," he chuckled.

"Oh no!" Rachel squealed as the car stopped at another light and they rolled over again placing Finn back on top.

"This is awesome, it's like I'm doing it in a tilt-a-whirl," Finn said. And at that he smashed his lips into hers and pounded into her harder and harder and she met his thrusts and twisted her fingers into his hair.

After a few more minuted they began to come, their breathing becoming more labored and their bodies trembling and aching with pleasure.

"I'm coming, are you going to come with me?" she whispered.

"Yeah," he panted. "I love you… so, so much."

"I love you too. Oh, oh god there it is!" she exclaimed as they caved in on each other, breathless and shaking.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing," He joked, still out of breath. "Just doing my job."


	2. Chapter 2

**For anybody reading The Day the Music Died, I'm a little blocked on the latest chapter. It should be posted soon, but if I can't figure out where I'm going with it by this afternoon then it may not be up until Monday since I'm having honest to god non-fanfic related fun this weekend. Bear with me please, and until then enjoy this chapter. **

They were fully dressed and collected by the time they reached the hotel, ready to enjoy a goodnight sleep and a hard-earned day off. They would have to try to keep their hands off each other until they reached the room, there was no telling who they would run into on the way there. The entire road crew was holed up in the hotel until they left for their next destination. Kurt Hummel, Rachel's hairdresser and closest confidant was the only one who knew about their secret romance, he was a relentless gossip but Rachel knew that she could trust him. He had found out by accident the one time they weren't quite careful enough and he managed to walk in on them making out in the tour bus kitchenette while he was going for a midnight snack. After much pleading he had agreed to keep quiet, even if he was a little offended by the fact that she hadn't told him herself. Kurt could be trusted, but no one else could know, especially not Shelby, Rachel's mother and manager. Rachel was 23 years old, but nobody would know it the way Shelby was with her, she was notoriously overprotective, and she had been ever since Rachel first hit the scene as a 16 year old prodigy.

"Rachel, honey," Shelby said greeting her in the hotel lobby, they didn't know that she would be waiting, but they should have expected as much.

"Hi mom," Rachel said about as enthusiastically as she could muster considering her fatigue.

"Sorry I couldn't make the show, I heard you were just wonderful." She continued, embracing her daughter and kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"She was amazing, better than amazing," Finn gushed.

"Well Mr. Hudson as always I appreciate you looking out for her," Shelby said, draping her arm around Rachel's shoulder. "But I got it from here, I'm sure you're anxious to get some sleep."

"Actually Mr. Hudson was going to walk me to my room, just to be on the safe side," Rachel said.

"But I wanted to have an apple martini at the hotel bar with my best girl," Shelby said. "And Arthur Abrams from Fanarchy Magazine is waiting, he wanted to ask you some questions about the tour."

"Mom I've been doing interviews all day. I'm exhausted, can't we reschedule?"

"I'm sorry baby but he's only in town for the night, I promise it won't take long."

"Okay, I guess I could have one drink, Mr. Hudson would you like to join us?" Rachel said.

"Um, sure, if it's okay with you Mrs. Corcoran."

"Um, okay, I suppose that'll be fine," Shelby said, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Okay, let's get this over with," Rachel sighed.

"At least try to seem a little excited, the last thing we need are more diva rumors circulating," Shelby insisted.

"Okay, I'll try to pretend like I've slept more than two hours in the last three days," Rachel grumbled.

"And by the way, you don't always have to include everyone within earshot," Shelby whispered as they made their way to the hotel bar. It didn't seem quite hushed enough for Finn not to be able to hear it at least partially, but somehow Rachel felt like Shelby wanted him to hear.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god," Rachel said, falling facedown onto her cushy bed. She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, a euphoric smile on her face. "Hello bed, I missed you, did you miss me?"<p>

"I'm sure it did," Finn said, lowering himself on top of her and pressing his lips to hers, tasting the mild tang of apple martini on her lips as he sucked her tongue into his mouth and caressed her smooth, plump lips with his.

"I so glad you're here," she said sleepily as he peppered her neck with soft kisses and she tangled her fingers into his hair. "I don't think I would survive this tour without you."

"You'd be just fine," Finn said as he sat upright and grabbed one of her tiny feet in his hands, removing her strappy shoe. "You're tougher than you think." He removed the other shoe and began to rub her foot.

"Mmm, that feels nice," She said, her voice faraway.

"Come on, sit up," he said gently, putting her foot down and standing up at the edge of her bed.

"Do I have to?"

"Just for a second."

"I hate you so much," she groaned, sitting up and resting her sleepy head on his torso.

"Arms up."

She obeyed, raising her arms, her eyes still closed. And he grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it up over her head, setting it aside. He removed her bra next, struggling with the clasp a little more than he felt proud of admitting. Her nightie was conveniently close enough for him to reach without moving too far, he grabbed it and lowered it onto Rachel's naked body.

"Thank you," she said, sounding sleepier with each syllable.

"Okay, come on gorgeous," he said, picking her up into his arms and laying her down at the right end of her bed before pulling the blanket up over her body.

"I'm just going to let myself out. You get some sleep." he said quietly.

"No, don't go," she said, grabbing his wrist with a surprising amount of strength considering she was practically passed out. "Stay with me."

He smiled down at her lovingly as she slept and he knew that there was no way he was going anywhere. How she always managed to hold him hostage without even trying was beyond him. He pulled off one of his shoes with his foot and the other with both hands and shook off his jacket before climbing into bed next to her, pulling her into his strong arms and letting her sink into him. He hated that she had to work so much, that she was so tired all of the time. It was only the music that kept her going, the music and him, or so she always said.

* * *

><p>It was nearly noon when he woke up, Rachel still nestled securely in his arms. He wasn't surprised, she was usually a morning person, but not after a straight week of nonstop shows, interviews, TV spots and autograph signings. This was her time now.<p>

She spun around in his arms to face him and smiled as she woke up. "Hi," she said sweetly.

"Hi," he said, brushing a messy bit of hair out of her face.

"I don't think I've ever slept so well in my life," she said. "I think I may have died for a second."

"You know what we should do?" Finn said. "Order room service and just stay in bed all day long. My treat"

"The cheapest thing here is the apple pinenut salad, it's nineteen dollars."

"It's okay, all that money I stole from your purse last night should cover it," he joked.

She smiled and playfully mussed his hair. "Let me handle it, you know I don't mind."

"Yeah, I know," he said deflating a little. "Did you want to get that?" he continued as her phone began to vibrate on her nightstand.

"Nobody's that important" she said, "especially not today, just let it go to voicemail."

"I have no problem with that," he said placing a long kiss on her eager mouth. But their blissful amorous moment was once again cut short as her cellphone vibrated once more.

"Crap," she said, relenting and grabbing for her phone. "On no, it's my mother, and she's called six times."

"You're momager always calls over and over, it can't be that important," Finn said.

"If it's all the same I think I'll see what's going on, I'll be right back," she said, leaving him with a quick kiss before going out to the balcony to talk with her mother.

Finn clicked on the TV hoping to at least catch some sports news before she came back to bed. He settled on Espn and sat up in bed. He wasn't the least bit interested in what Rachel was talking about with her mother, and he couldn't adequately hear through the door anyway, but when she came back inside the look on her face suggested that he should be very interested.

"Finn," Rachel said worriedly. "She wants to see you."

* * *

><p>Finn figured it was something about payroll or maybe Shelby thought he had been hoarding bus food or something, either way he was none to enthusiastic about cutting his day with Rachel short, and he had to admit he was a little worried that Shelby seemed to know that he was with Rachel, but he shrugged it off. Once you've been on tour together you developed a rapport, so even if he was in Rachel's room at noon there was no reason for Shelby to believe that it wasn't totally innocent. Plenty of Rachel's road crew hung out in her room from time to time, Kurt, her cellist slash Kurt's boyfriend Blaine, her guitarist Sam and her make-up girl Tina always hung out in there from time to time. They were Rachel's only friends, why should Finn be any exception?<p>

He knocked hesitantly on Shelby's door, not surprised that Mercedes, her personal assistant was the one to answer.

"Hey Mercedes, Shelby wanted to see me?"

"Right through there," Mercedes said, raising her eyebrow at him almost accusingly.

He ignored Mercedes' odd expression and entered the sitting room of Shelby's suite.

"Why hello Mr. Hudson, you're a difficult man to get a hold of," she said, her face hard to read.

"Sorry, my cell must have been turned off," he said sheepishly.

"No worries, please sit," he obeyed, sitting across from Shelby and wondering exactly what was going on. She took a long sip of her coffee and turned her steely gaze back toward him.

"Um, Mrs. Corcoran, can I ask what this is about?" Finn said politely.

"Of course, how rude of me to keep you waiting," she said. "I'm sure you're in a hurry to get back to sleeping with my daughter."

**Finn's in a world of trouble, and how exactly did Shelby find out? Stay tuned for more.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Good news everyone, there should be another chapter of The Day The Music Died in a couple of hours, so keep your eyes peeled for it.**

Finn's face grew hot and his hands began to sweat and his pulse started to race. How could she have found out? They were so careful, and Kurt had nothing to gain from telling her. Finn knew what it would mean if anybody ever knew the truth, he'd be reassigned or possibly even fired, either way he wouldn't be able to see Rachel anymore, not for months. There had to be a way out of this, there had to be something he could say or do. He was never the best at talking his way out of anything, usually when he was caught doing something wrong he'd simply ramble foolishly or blurt out the worst possible response. Back in his Marine corps days his fellow officers used to joke that he'd be the perfect POW, even if he did know information that would help the enemy he wouldn't be able to impart it in a way that was even vaguely helpful. His captors may have shot him dead out of frustration but they wouldn't come away from the experience any the wiser.

"What? Nothing is happening between me and Rachel," He said, sounding more nervous than he meant to.

"Really," she said icily, "Then who who is in these pictures exactly?" she continued, grabbing a stack of photos lying beside her on the couch and tossing them to Finn.

His blood ran cold at the sight of them, it was plain as day, him and Rachel in Cabo Mexico, dancing close and kissing at a hole in the wall bar in the outskirts of town. He remembered that night two months ago, it was right after Kurt found out about their relationship, but he wouldn't have hired anyone to follow them would he? It certainly didn't sound like something he would do. But who could it have been? There was barely anyone in the bar at the time and the few people who were there didn't have the foggiest idea who Rachel Berry was. It was they perfect date spot for a couple in hiding, or so they thought at the time.

"I can explain," Finn finally said.

"I don't need to hear your explanation Mr. Hudson, you knew the rules and you broke them," Shelby said. "What possible excuse could you have for taking advantage of your position? And on top of everything lying to me about it?"

"Look, it's not like that between us."

"It isn't like what? Do you mean to tell me that you aren't involved with my daughter? Because I think we're past lying at this point."

He let out a low sigh and looked her in the face, knowing that it was time to tell her everything, there was no other choice.

"I love your daughter Mrs. Corcoran," he said quietly and sincerely.

She looked unmoved. "You love her? That's adorable," She said icily.

"I do, very much. I'm in love with her. And I know that I shouldn't have let anything happen between us, but over the last two years, getting to know her and being around her, things just sort of happened."

"I believe you love my daughter Mr. Hudson, she's beautiful, she's famous and she has more money than god, what's not to love right?"

"Well if that's the only reason you think she's worth loving then-

"How dare you?" She snapped, cutting him off, and he knew that he probably shouldn't have said it, but it was hard not to go on the defensive in that situation. "You don't know a thing about me."

"I know more than you think," he said. "Rachel tells me things, we talk, it's not just physical." He felt weird talking about this stuff with her mother, but it needed to be said.

"Really, do you know that me and Rachel's father were married for fifteen years when I found out he was leaving me for his golf buddy?"

"Yes," Finn said matter-of-factly.

"Well then you know that Rachel is all I have and I'll be damned if I'm going to let some grasping, oppurtunistic liar get his claws into her."

"I would never do anything to hurt her, ever." He insisted. "And I'm sorry that we kept this from you but we knew that you wouldn't understand."

"Oh I understand, I understand how someone like Rachel could get involved with someone like you, you're handsome, you're convenient and I'm sure the appeal of sneaking around is a plus."

He had to admit that hurt a little, but he knew that he meant more to her than that. When she told him that she loved him the night before, she meant it, he had no doubt in his mind. He still didn't fully understand why she loved him, but he knew without a doubt that she did.

"Rachel loves me, she-

"You're fired," Shelby said, cutting him off.

"What?" Finn protested. "No, you can't."

"I just did Mr. Hudson."

"Please don't do this," he said, his voice breaking. "I shouldn't have lied, I'm sorry, but being with your daughter has never interfered with me doing my job, if anything it's made it that much more important."

"I'm sure I can find plenty of perfectly capable bodyguards who can keep their hands to themselves."

"I'm begging you," Finn said, trying not to cry. He couldn't lose Rachel, he just couldn't.

"It's no longer up to me Mr. Hudson. I called the agency, they are livid about this. You crossed a major line, one that you swore to never cross. If these pictures had gone to the press their reputation would have suffered, they're the only security company that takes their job seriously anymore. Mercifully I talked them out of dropping you entirely. But you're to be reassigned to a new client. You're due back in LA Monday."

"Mrs. Corcoran."

"We're done here, please show yourself out," she interuppted, getting up from her couch and leaving him alone with his thoughts.

* * *

><p>Finn went over it again and again in his head, he had no idea how to tell Rachel and as he got closer to her hotel room he became more and more anxious.<p>

She was sitting on the bed when he let himself in. "You were gone so long," she said getting up to greet him at the door with a long kiss. Usually her kisses made his heart skip a few beats but he was sure that that kiss broke it into a thousand peices. "Did my mother accuse you of taking her triscuits again?"

"No," he said, his voice hoarse.

"Well I'm glad you're back," she said, kissing him again. "You know what sounds like fun, getting fucked senseless in a hot shower." Somehow she even made the 'F' bomb sound prim and adorable.

"Rachel," he said, tears springing to his eyes.

"Baby what's wrong?" she said worriedly, placing her hand on his cheek.

"I've been fired."

She scoffed a little, as if he were joking, but her face fell once she realized that he was dead serious.

"She knows about us," he continued.

At that Rachel backed up and fell into a sitting position on the bed. "Okay, this isn't a big deal, I'll talk to her, we'll fix this," she said, her panicked tone betraying her words.

"It's done Rachel," he said sitting down next to her. "She told the agency and they reassigned me."

"But they can't, I'm the star, what I say goes." she said, raising her voice.

"I really wish that were true," he said.

"Quit, you can quit the agency and I can hire you personally."

"Shelby would never allow it."

"She doesn't own me Finn!" Rachel said, full on crying now.

"Come here," he said, opening his arms to her and letting her sink into his embrace ."I know your mother is difficult, but I also know how much you love her, I wouldn't do anything to get in between the two of you," He said, "And I think she's more upset that we lied about it than anything."

"I will never forgive her for this, ever."

"Look it's not like we'll never see each other again. Once the tour's over and you're back in LA we can be together without having to worry about who sees us."

"That's four months, I can't be away from you for that long," She said. "Look, let me talk to her, I have to try."

He loved her for being so insistent, but he knew that there was nothing she could say or do to change Shelby's mind. He simply nodded.

"Okay, I'll be right back," she said pressing her lips to his tenderly. "Don't go anywhere."

* * *

><p>She marched angrily toward Shelby's suite, she was fuming, but she knew that she had to keep herself calm if she hoped to reason with Shelby. She took a few deep breaths before knocking, wishing it had taken a little longer for Mercedes to open the door.<p>

"Mercedes, is my mother here?" Rachel said sternly as she entered the room.

"Hello pumpkin," Shelby said, entering the foyer. "Is there something wrong, you look terrible."

"You can't fire Finn in the middle of my tour mother," Rachel seethed.

Shelby crossed her arms, standing her ground. "Well, I didn't fire him, the agency did. And it's not as if he's out of a job comepletely, we just won't be requiring his services anymore."

"You told them, how could you do that without discussing it with me first?"

"So what you're saying is, you're upset with me for betraying your trust, is that right?" Shelby said calmly.

"Yes."

"Well, how do you think I feel?" Shelby continued. "I don't understand what's going on with you, you used to tell me everything."

"Mom, I wasn't trying to hurt you, but we knew what would have happened if we had told you."

"You know what, if you would have told me, then maybe I would have tried to understand, but you lied to me for months Rachel. So I can assure you I feel nothing. Mr. Hudson is no longer a part of this tour."

"You have to let me hire him personally," Rachel said, "I'll pay him myself."

"That's not going to happen," Shelby said.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Rachel said pleadingly. "Because I hurt your feelings? I'm sorry but you can't take that out on him."

"I'm trying to do my job Rachel. My job is to look out for you as both your mother and your manager. You're set to go down in history as one of the greatest recording artists of the decade and he's a Jarhead with the mental capacity of an actual jar, do you really see this working out?"

"I love him mom," she said, sobbing. "I do, I love him, you can't take him away from me."

Shelby focused her steely gaze on her heartbroken daughter. "If you really love him than why are you so ashamed of him?"

"What? I'm not," Rachel insisted.

"Really, how many people know about the two of you?"

"Just Kurt," she said quietly.

"And did you volunteer this information to Kurt willingly?"

"No, but that's not the point. I didn't want him to lose his job and Finn himself agreed that it was best to keep it a secret."

"Really, do you even know how I found out?" Shelby said, giving Rachel a look that she didn't like.

"How."

"The housekeeper found these in Mr. Hudson's possesion," Shelby said, showing Rachel the same pictures she had showed Finn earlier. "He would have taken them to the press if I hadn't intercepted."

"It's not true," Rachel said flipping through the photos. "He would never do this to me."

"I didn't want to tell you, I know you're always getting hurt by people you trust. But You have got to face the fact that Finn isn't who you thought he was, I'm so sorry sweetheart." She said reaching out for her.

"Don't touch me," Rachel said, recoiling.

"Are you telling me that you believe him over your own mother?"

"I'm saying that I need some time to think," Rachel said, taking the pictures and leaving without another word.

**I think this is the first time I've ever written Shelby as a bitch, but I'm not going to make her pure evil throughout the fic. She has her motivations just like everyone else. Aside from sociopaths nobody is mean just for the sake of it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I made a mistake in the second chapter, Sam is Rachel's guitarist in this story, not Puck. You'll see why that's important in this chapter.**

He couldn't have done it, she just knew it. Not her Finn, but who else knew that had anything to gain from the press finding out? People would do a lot for their fifteen minutes of fame, even betray the person that they love. No, she thought, pushing it out of her mind. Finn didn't care about that kind of thing, besides, she was the one that started the relationship, Finn was so reluctant the first time they kissed, like he was afraid that he was using her or something. But maybe things had changed by then, maybe he needed the money, maybe he truly did love her the way he said, but he was just desperate. Maybe he changed his mind about sending the pictures to the press and still happened to have them for safekeeping, those photos were taken two months ago, there must have been a reason he still had them after all that time, it was perfectly logical to consider that he simply had a change of heart. Or maybe, just maybe it was her mother who was lying. Her and Shelby had their problems, sure, but Rachel trusted her, she loved her and she didn't think she would ever lie to her, she was the one who kept her from falling apart after her father left, she was the one who kept her going before Finn came along. Either her mother was lying to her or Finn was, she didn't know which was worse.

The look on Finn's face as she entered the room was enough to break her heart. It was as if he knew that there was nothing she could do.

"Hey," he said calmly, standing up to greet her with a soft kiss that brought tears to her eyes.

"Finn," she said tearfully.

"Look, it's going to be okay, I promise," Finn said, guessing where the tears came from. "Nothing is going to keep me away from you Rach."

"Did you have someone follow us that night?" Rachel said holding up the pictures.

He knitted his brow, taking a moment to understand what was going on.

"Rachel, those aren't mine."

"Then who's are they? My mother said the housekeeper found them in your room."

"Rachel she's lying, today is the first time I've ever seen those pictures, I swear. An anonymous source sent them I don't know who but I don't think it was Kurt."

"My mother wouldn't lie to me," Rachel said tearfully.

"She would if it meant getting rid of me."

"No, she wouldn't sh-she wouldn't lie to me, not about this," she said, stammering.

"So you think I would?" he said raising his voice a little more than he meant to.

"I don't know, I don't know what to think Finn. I'm so confused," She looked so broken, he couldn't believe that Shelby would do this to her, that she would manipulate her like this. But he also didn't have the heart to let her believe that.

Finn took her into his arms and hugged her close. "Look I promise you Rachel that I would never do anything to hurt you, you know that don't you?"

She nodded against his chest and held him close, not wanting to let him go. "Look, I'm not mad at you, maybe you just needed the money and had a momentary lapse in judgment. But I know you never would have sent them."

"No, I never would have sent them. I'm sorry, I never should have agreed to let that guy follow us," he lied.

"It's okay, thank you for telling me the truth Finn," she said, knowing in her heart what he was doing, that through it all he was still trying to protect her relationship with Shelby. And she just didn't have the strength not to let him.

"I have to leave Rachel," he said quietly.

"No," she said, hugging him tighter

"You have to finish this tour, after that we'll figure this thing out. I promise." Finn caught her warm, soft lips in his, savoring the feel and taste of her mouth, committing it to memory. She parted her lips from his and grabbed his shirt at the hem, pulling it up over his head. And he pulled off her shirt as he backed her up toward the bed. It was the last time that he would get a chance to make love with her for at least four months, if he could make it last forever he would have.

* * *

><p>It didn't matter who saw them now, and the paps were restricted from coming within 50 feet of the hotel, Finn and Rachel thought as they walked hand in hand toward the hotel lobby, their fingers intertwined. As Shelby spotted them across the floor she approached them, clearly a little shocked that they were still on hand holding terms.<p>

"You win Shelby," Finn said, no longer bothering to keep up te formal address. "I confessed."

The look on Shelby's face at that moment suggested that she was trying really hard not to look surprised.

"Are you sure you don't need me to go with you to the airport?" Rachel said.

"No, I'll be okay," Finn said, not hesitating to kiss her in front of Shelby. "You have to get to that bus if you're going to get to Seattle in time."

"Okay," she said, kissing him again. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said starting out and holding on to her hand as long as their arms would stretch.

"Wait, Mr. Husdson, I need to have a word with you for a moment," Shelby said, following him out.

"I've already gotten my severance check I don't have anything else to say to you," Finn said coldly, walking ahead of her in a huff.

"Wait," She said. "Why did you confess?"

He stopped and looked at her. "Because, I couldn't let her believe that her own mother would lie to her like that."

He couldn't believe it but Shelby almost looked guilty. "Well thank you, you did the right thing," she said.

"Yeah, sucks doesn't it?" he said, leaving her without another word.

* * *

><p>Rachel dragged her feet to the tour bus, she had to remember what Finn told her, she was stronger than she thought. Somehow she would make it through this tour without Finn. She wondered who her new bodyguard was going to be, probably someone chubby and unpleasant, all the better to keep temptation down Shelby must have thought, little did she know, nobody but Finn could tempt her even a little.<p>

"Hey Rachel," Kurt said, greeting Rachel with a hug. "I'm so sorry about Finn, are you okay?"

"I'll survive," Rachel said. "I miss him already though."

"Me too, he was the only guy who would let me give him manicures when I was bored."

Finn's nails were always lovely, she thought to herself. "Well, we hope to pick up where we left off when I get home."

"Well if it helps I just saw your new bodyguard, he's gorgeous, not that you'd ever cheat on Finn, but I'm sure you'll appreciate the eye candy," Kurt said clapping her on the back before he went back into the hotel to gather more of his things.

As Rachel entered the bus and saw him standing there, waiting for her, she knew that Kurt wasn't exaggerating, he was gorgeous. Olive skin, hazel eyes, perfectly toned body visible beneath a tight black t-shirt. She knew that she wouldn't cheat on Finn, but if her mother was so concerned about her fraternizing with her bodyguards then she was doing a very poor job of selecting them.

"Hi, I'm Noah Puckerman, codename shark but you can call me Puck," he said with a charming twinkle in his eye as he shook her hand. She noticed something hard and cold pressing against her hand as he shook it. She looked down and smirked a little at the sight of his wedding band.

"I'm Rachel," She said. "So you're married?"

"Yep, going on eight years."

"But you look so young," she said, she wasn't firting, she really was curious, he really didn't look at all like the marrying type.

"I got hitched when I was 18 when I knocked up my old lady. he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. In it was a picture of an absolutely gorgeous green-eyed blonde and a sweet faced little girl with her mother's hair and her father's eyes.

"That's Quinn and my little badass Beth."

"And they're okay with you being away from them for four months?"

"They didn't like it but we have another kid on the way and we need a bigger place," he said shrugging, "I couldn't turn down the money."

"I'm sorry, your family is beautiful, it must be really hard to be away from them," as her voice broke and her eyes began to tear up Puck took a worried step forward.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?" he said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing," she said, wiping her eyes and pulling herself together. "I just miss someone."


	5. Chapter 5

In any other situation Finn would be excited to meet Santana Lopez, she was gorgeous, and he always admired her music. Even if her voice wasn't as mind-blowing as Rachel's, she had a cool, sultry tone and her songs were all about anger and sex. But he couldn't stop missing his girl long enough to get excited. He'd also heard that Santana was kind of a pill, however he'd heard the same thing about Rachel before he worked with her for the first time. And although Rachel was incredibly difficult and abrasive when he first met her it didn't take long for her walls to come down and they ended up becoming friends, good friends. But them being friends also led to her kissing him in her tour bus. That kind of thing wouldn't happen with Santana, first of all he loved Rachel, second Santana came out of the closet on Ellen three days before. His main job was to keep the Westboro guys at a safe distance while the uproar died down.

"It's you, Joy," Santana said apathetically as she opened the door for him. "You're taller than the last guy."

"Yeah, I heard you've been having some problems with the Church guys, I'm here to help," Finn said. "I'm Finn Hudson codename Freckles."

"Your codename is Freckles?" she said judgmentally.

"Yeah, I didn't pick it," he said affectionately, thinking of Rachel.

"Okay, well I'll be ready to go in five minutes, make yourself at home, and by that I meant keep standing there and don't touch anything," she said disappearing into her bathroom.

"Joy," Finn said under his breath.

* * *

><p>It was just as Santana expected, a swarm of Bigots with signs saying crass things like "God hates dykes" and "burn in hell whore."<p>

"Okay everybody, back!" Finn demanded as he led Santana through the crowd to her car.

"Hey Santana you just need to find the right guy," said one of the protestors reaching for her hand, "How about giving me a test drive?"

Before he could touch Santana Finn grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. "Yeah, you seem like a real charmer," Finn seethed as the man writhed in pain.

"I'm sorry I was just kidding around, I'm not even with these losers," he said.

"Get the fuck out of here," Finn spat, letting him go and continuing to lead Santana to her car.

They piled into the backseat and Finn immediately noticed the pretty blonde sitting there.

"Hey Baby," Santana said embracing the blonde and greeting her with a long, deep kiss.

"Who's the weird guy staring at us?" the blonde whispered into Santana's mouth as she opened her eyes and looked at Finn.

"Can I help you gigantor?" Santana said, shooting him a look.

"Sorry," Finn said sheepishly. "Didn't mean to stare."

"This is Brittany," Santana said.

"I'm Brittany," Brittany parroted, extending her hand for him to shake.

"Hi, I'm Finn," he said genially, shaking her hand.

"He's cute," Brittany said. "But I thought we had a no three-way rule."

"I'm not trying to get him into a three-way Brit, he's my bodyguard," Santana said.

"Yep, just here to work," Finn said.

"And by the way," Santana said, adressing Finn. "Good job out there."

**One Month Later**

She just had to keep it together a little bit longer, after soundcheck she would get to rest in her dressing room for an hour. She needed it, it was hard to believe only a month had gone by. She missed Finn so much and she was so busy on the road that she barely had time to talk to him on the phone. She loved the hours she got to spend in her bus going to a new destination. Puck loved it too, she always got a warm feeling from overhearing his skype dates with Quinn and Beth. He was Lucky, Quinn worked a regular nine to five job whereas Finn had to be at Santana's beck and call every time she had an event to attend which was pretty often. She missed him so much it hurt, how she would manage to make it the next three months was beyond her. She knew that he missed her too, Santana wasn't as horrible of a boss as he feared, at worst she ignored him in public or vaguely insulted him, but she kind of did that with everyone, and he got along with her girlfriend Brittany well enough, but he hated being away from Rachel, and he made it known every time they talked. She wasn't getting enough sleep and he knew it, but there was nothing he could do, not while he was stuck in LA and she was in Las Vegas.

"Honey, are you feeling okay," Shelby said as Rachel finished her first run.

"I'm fine," Rachel said unconvincingly. Things had been difficult with Shelby, for the most part Rachel just tried to avoid her.

"You seem sick," Shelby said, placing a hand on Rachel's forehead. "You feel a little warm to me."

"I said, I'm fine," Rachel snapped jerking away from Shelby's hand. "One more time," Rachel said to her bandmates.

"Rachel, maybe you should cool it," Sam said. "We can take it from here, you need to get some rest."

"I want to get this down, the show is at seven and everyone is counting on me," Rachel said, her voice shaky. "My fans paid good money to see me I can't let them down."

"All the more reason for you to go lay down," Blaine said.

"I can lay down after the show, I just need some water or something."

"Mercedes, could you get her some water?" Shelby said.

"No, I'll get it," Rachel said.

"I wonder what's wrong with her," Blaine said after Rachel was out of earshot.

"Isn't it obvious, she misses him." Sam said.

"We are not to talk about Mr. Hudson, is that clear?" Shelby said. "Now why don't you do another run while we're waiting for Rachel."

Rachel felt dizzy, she felt so incredibly dizzy. She took off her stilt like shoes to steady herself and continued to the kraft services table, she took a long drink of the lemon spiked water and felt a little better.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Puck said approaching her at the table "Are you sick or something?"

"No, I'm fine," she lied taking another long drink of water. "I'm just a little sleep-deprived

"Here, take a seat," he said sliding a nearby chair over.

"Thanks," she said sinking into her chair and taking another long drink of water.

"How's Quinn?" Rachel said.

"Hormonal, she cried on the phone for an hour the other day because her boss gave her a new calculator. She thought it was his way of telling her that her math is getting sloppy."

"She probably just misses you," Rachel said.

"I miss her, I'm almost jealous that she's yelling at her boss and not me," Puck said. "So, how long were you and your old bodyguard going at it?"

Rachel had to actively force herself not to spit out her water st the randomness of his question. "How did you..."

"We all figure there was a reason he got shitcanned," he said casually.

"Three months," Rachel said quietly. "We were together for three months, but we knew each other for two years."

"It must be hard not having him around."

"Yeah, no offense you're a wonderful employee Mr. Puckerman."

"None taken, I get it, he provided services that I can't," He joked.

"I guess you could say that."

"Look, why don't you go in your dressing room and call the poor bastard, the band will be fine without you for awhile."

Rachel knitted her brow in contemplation. "I have a better idea, is there a place around here where I can rent a car?"


	6. Chapter 6

Sunglasses, sneakers, jeans, ponytail and Finn's gray hoodie, not her best look, but it was one that would let her make her escape unnoticed. Shelby would be furious, they'd all be furious, but she had to take her chance, she had to tell him, and there was no way she could say what she needed to over the phone. She had planned to do the show as scheduled after securing the car, if she was being honest she wasn't even sure what possessed her to get it in the first place, but a lot had changed in the hour following, and there was no way she could have done that show. She grabbed her rental car keys and purse and ducked out of her hotel room, hoping that nobody would catch her in the hallway, she knew it was only a matter of time before they came looking for her.

She drove like a bat out of hell thinking only of Finn and how badly she needed to see him. It would be after ten by the time she got to his apartment, and she hoped that he would be there, She would wait all night for him if she had to.

* * *

><p>Finn let himself into his apartment, he couldn't believe that it was only 9:30, but he was grateful that Santana decided to forgo the party to go to Brittany's apartment. Santana was surprisingly less of a party girl than he expected, she liked to dance and drink as much as the next girl, but she was also in a committed relationship, which thankfully for him meant no random hooking up or staying out all night unless Brit was by her side. He knew that Rachel's show ended at ten. He set his phone next to him so he wouldn't miss her ritual aftershow phonecall, turned his TV to sportscenter and fell back onto his bed, drifting off to sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.<p>

He wasn't sure how long he had slept when the banging on his door snapped him awake, but it was still dark out and he still felt pretty groggy. He looked at his bedside clock, it was 10:14 he hoped he hadn't missed Rachel's phonecall but luckily it was early enough for him to call her back without too much trouble, he checked his phone. There were no calls from Rachel, but shockingly there were four from Shelby, what could she have possibly wanted, he thought to himself before his visitor banged on the door again. He got out of bed and stumbled out to his front door. Half asleep he looked through the peephole and at the sight of who it was he immediately snapped awake, slid off the security chain and unlocked the door.

"Rachel," he said, looking upon his estranged girlfriend. She looked so small in his hoodie, her makeup was scrubbed away and her hair was pulled haphazardly in a messy ponytail, but as she stood there before him he thought to himself that he'd never seen her look more beautiful.

She didn't say a word as she crashed into him, sobbing.

"Rachel, why aren't you in Vegas, what happened? Tell me what's wrong," he said, holding her tiny, shaking body in his arms.

"Everything," she said.

"Okay, come on, sit down, tell me what happened."

"I was going to wait until after the show to come see you, I thought I'd surprise you, you know, and be back in time to play Phoenix but then when I was driving back to the venue I passed this drugstore and I thought I'd go in because I'd been sick lately. It was just in case you know but then..."

"Rachel, what happened?" he said, more firmly this time.

"Finn, I'm pregnant," she said through choked sobs.

"You're..."

"That's why I couldn't do the show in Vegas, I had to see you. Everybody is going to hate me but I had to see you. I had to tell you."

"Are you sure?" he said, knitting his brow.

"Well I took one of those tests and it said positive, I didn't think about it at first because I was on the pill but I'm so busy sometimes I forget to take it the same time everyday and oh my god Finn, I'm freaking out, I can't stop shaking."

At that he pulled her into his embrace and stroked her back soothingly. "It's okay Rachel, we'll figure this out, it'll be okay."

"I feel so stupid, I never should have let this happen. I never should have let her come between us."

"Rachel look at me," he said grabbing her by the shoulders. "It's going to be okay."

"How?" She said, "You're not here and I can't even see you when I want to. I need you so much and you're not here."

"I'm here Rachel," he said, hugging her close. "I'm right here."

"I just left without telling anyone, I've never done anything like this before, I've never just abandoned a show before."

"They'll understand. Right now you have to think about yourself," he said. "We're going to have a baby Rachel do you know what this means?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling through her tears and grasping her stomach. "You're going to be a daddy Finn."

"I love you so much," he said, kissing her tenderly. "Both of you," as he kissed her his phone rang, snapping him out of his tender moment with Rachel.

"It's probably Shelby, she called me four times," Finn said.

"I cut off my phone before I left," Rachel said.

Finn pressed talk on his phone and pulled it up to his ear. "Hey Shelby," Finn said.

"Finn, where is my daughter?" Shelby fumed.

"She's here, she's okay," Finn said looking Rachel in the eye.

"Let me talk to her, right now," Rachel bit her lip and shook her head vigorously.

"I'm sorry, she can't talk right now," Finn said.

"Do you have any idea how much money we lost tonight? I don't understand what's going on, she just abandons her concert without telling anyone and turns up with _you_, put my daughter on the phone, right now Finn."

"Bye Shelby," Finn said, before pressing end.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said.

"It's okay," He insisted. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"Starving," Rachel beamed.

They ate leftover chinese takeout on the couch, crispy spareribs and chow mein for him, mixed teriyaki vegetables and steamed rice for her, as he finished he glanced over to her, sleeping with an empty container on her lap. He turned up one corner of his mouth in an affectionate half-smile and grabbed the container out of her lap, placing it on the table. Her eyelashes fluttered a little as he swept her up in his arms and carried her into his bedroom.

He laid her down on her back, but as he tried to stand back up she grabbed him by the belt and pulled him down, capturing his lips in hers and wrapping her thin arms around his shoulders.

"Thank god, I thought you'd be too tired," he said pulling off his shirt.

"Nobody's that tired Finn," she said as he unzipped her sweatshirt and began to plant soft kisses on her modest cleavage.

"This won't hurt the baby will it?" He asked nervously.

"No," she giggled.

He swept up the material of her lacy camisole and pressed his lips to her stomach, lingering there as she softly ran her fingers through his hair. "Do you think were ready for this?" He asked her, his voice soft.

"Well, I've always wanted to have kids," she said. "What about you?"

"Yeah," he said, giving her a warm smile. "I think I'm ready."

And he kissed her, resting his strong hand on her stomach, there was nothing there yet, but it felt like a nice thing to do. They didn't know what would happen or how they would make it through, but they were together again, and that meant everything.

* * *

><p>He loved waking up with Rachel curled up next to him, he hated that he had to work. On Monday he would ask them about finding a new bodyguard for Santana, Shelby still hated him, she probably always would, but somehow he would find a way to be with Rachel, to be with his child. They were all that mattered anymore.<p>

"Rachel, I have to go to work, but I'll be back soon, I promise," He whispered to his sleeping lover.

"Okay," she said sleepily. "I love you."

"I love you too," He said softly kissing her forehead. Today would be a very long day.

Finn couldn't believe the continued fascination with Santana's sexuality, she had come out a month ago for chrissakes, yet she was still being hounded at every turn. Even her supporters could get a little scary. It wasn't anything Finn couldn't handle, but it would have been nice to have an easy day for once. Escorting Santana to a morning show to perform was no easy feat, even at 8 am they were prepped and ready to make Finn's life a living hell, and they were still there when she came out two hours later, there was no escaping them. Finn was just happy to be done for the Day, Santana was safe at home with Brit and Rachel was safe in his apartment with their baby, and he couldn't wait to see them both.

"Rachel, I'm home," Finn called as he let himself in. Her rental car was still in the guest parking lot, so he knew she had to be home. "Rachel?" he called again. "Are you here babe?"

There weren't too many places to hide in his cracker box apartment, he checked the bedroom next, to no avail, and then the bathroom. Rachel was nowhere to be found. He called her next, the phone rang six times before going to voicemail. "Hey Rach, I'm home, I'm just wondering where you are. You probably just stepped outside for something. Anyway, I'm here, so please call me back," he pressed end on his phone and began to bounce his knee a little. He then got up and began to pace the floor, not knowing what else to do at that point. He tried not to panic, any minute and she'd come walking through that door. He knew it. He checked his watch after about five minutes, she didn't come walking through the door. He was alone, and deep down in the pit of his stomach he knew that something was wrong, very, very wrong. He wondered if he should call the police, but then he realized that she had been missing all of seven minutes, so instead he called Kurt.

"Kurt Hummel," he answered.

"Kurt, have any of you heard from Rachel?" He said worriedly.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our little concert ruiner," Kurt said coldly.

"Did you hear me Kurt I said that I can't find Rachel, did she call you?"

"No, I haven't heard from her since yesterday... Finn what are you saying?"

"I have to go," Finn said abruptly, hanging up.

He had to calm down, he was sure it was nothing. At that he dialed Rachel's number again. It rang four times before she finally answered.

"Finn," she said. her voice sounded strange, like she was crying.

"Rachel, thank god, where are you?"

"Finn help me," she said, sounding panicked, his blood ran cold at the sound of her voice. She didn't leave, somebody had taken her.

"Finn is it?" said a voice on the phone that he didn't recognize.

"Who is this, what have you done to her?" Finn barked into the phone.

At that the mysterious voice on the other end simply chuckled and hung up, leaving Finn in terrified silence.

**A lot happening in this chapter I know. Stay tuned, things are about to get crazy.**


	7. Chapter 7

He couldn't breathe, it was like all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs the instant he heard her terrified voice on the other end. Somebody had taken Rachel, his beautiful Rachel was taken right from under him. He felt so helpless, so lost. It was a prank, it had to have been. But who would want to hurt him like that? Who would purposely make him believe that his girl and his unborn child were in danger?

He tried to keep his hand from shaking as he dialed 911. "911 What is your emergency?"

"Hello?" Finn said, panicked tears in his throat.

"What is your emergency?" the calm voice on the other end repeated.

"This is Finn Hudson, my girlfriend, sh-she's been kidnapped, someone, somebody took her," he said

"Okay you have to calm down, how long has she been missing?"

"I don't know, I left this morning and when I came back she was gone, I called her cell and she was crying, she said 'help me' and there was this guy. I don't know him but he took the phone away and he was laughing…" He couldn't finish, he couldn't breathe, why couldn't he breathe?

"And you're sure she was kidnapped?"

"Yes I'm telling you that someone took her," he said, raising his voice.

"What is the victim's name?"

"Rach- Rachel Berry," he said.

"Like the singer?" she said.

"She is the singer," Finn said. "I'm telling you the singer, Rachel Berry has been kidnapped from my apartment."

"Okay filing a false police report is a misdemeanor sir," she said.

"I'm telling you the truth! She was supposed to play her show in Vegas and she never showed up it's because she came to see me, and now she's gone. She was alone in my apartment, it was the perfect opportunity for some psycho to get to her," he knew he must've sounded like a nutcase, but he was telling the god's honest truth. He had to make her listen somehow.

"Okay calm down sir, we're sending someone right now."

"Thank you," he said, pressing end on his phone. Next he called Shelby, she would need to know that her daughter was taken.

"Finn, where is my daughter?" Shelby said immediately as he got through. "I've been calling over and over where is she?" Clearly Mr. Psycho only answered the phone for him.

"Shelby, you're going to want to come down here," Finn said.

"What's wrong with you, why are you crying?" Shelby said. "Did something happen to Rachel?"

"She's been taken, somebody took her from my apartment when I was at work."

"What?" she said angrily. "This isn't funny Finn, put Rachel on the phone."

"I'm telling you she's not here. It was my fault, I should have been here I just never thought…" he trailed off and sank into his chair.

"Okay you're scaring me," Shelby said.

"Look, I'm going to get her back okay, I promise."

"Finn!"

"I have to go," he said, hanging up the phone.

"What's going on Mrs. Corcoran?" Mercedes said as Shelby hung up the phone.

"Mercedes, cancel the tour until further notice," Shelby said "We're going back to LA."

"Who are you calling?" Mercedes said as Shelby dialed her phone.

"Do what I tell you," Shelby snapped. As the police picked up for Shelby she walked into the other room out of Mercedes' earshot.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Yes, I think a man name Finn Hudson may have done something to my daughter."

* * *

><p>As the police arrived Finn tried to pull himself together long enough to try to explain to them what happened.<p>

"Thank god," Finn said, "I—

"Sir you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Rachel Berry, you have a right to remain silent," the police officer said, approaching Finn with handcuffs. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law—

"Wait what's happening?" Finn said confusedly as they cuffed him against the police car.

"You have the right to an attorney if you do not have an attorney one will be provided for you..."

"No this is all wrong," Finn said. "I didn't do anything to Rachel, I would never hurt Rachel," he continued, raising his voice. "You've got the wrong guy! Let me go!"

"I promise you kid if you struggle you're going to regret it," The cop said, lowering him into the police car and slamming the door.

* * *

><p>Finn's knee bounced uncontrollably as he waited in the interrogation room. How could they have possibly thought that he would do anything to Rachel? It had to have been Shelby, she must have called them after he got off the phone with her, and the way he sounded when he talked to the police couldn't have helped matters. He was so worried about Rachel, she sounded so scared on the phone, he didn't want to think about what the man on the phone was doing to her. He couldn't think about it, every time he thought about it tears sprang to his eyes. He needed to get her back, somehow he would get her back.<p>

"Why hello Mr. Hudson," said a tall, blonde woman entering the interrogation room along with a curly haired man a few years her junior.

"I'm detective Sue Sylvester and this is detective William Schuester," She said as they sat down. "Let's try to get this over with shall we?"

"I didn't do anything to Rachel," Finn said.

"Nobody's saying that," Detective Schuester said.

"Yes, but we're all thinking it," Detective Sylvester said. "Disgruntled former employee, romantic feelings for the victim, falling out with the mother, you've got motives coming out of your ass Hudson."

"I would never do anything to hurt Rachel, I love her," Finn said, his voice breaking.

Detective Schuester slid over a box of Kleenex for him.

"No thanks," Finn said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"You love her?" Detective Sylvester said skeptically.

"Yes, that's why I was fired, because we weren't supposed to be together," Finn said.

"So what you're saying is you were involved with the victim?" Detective Schuester said.

"Stop calling her that, she has a name!" Finn snapped.

"Sorry, Rachel, you were involved with Rachel," Detective Schuester corrected.

"Yes, I came back to LA a month ago and we continued our relationship by phone until—

"Until what?" Detective Sylvester said, goading him on.

"Until she bailed on her concert and came to see me last night," He said. "She came to tell me that she was pregnant and she stayed the night—

"Wait, Rachel is pregnant?" Detective Schuester said, surprised.

"And you're the father?" Detective Sylvester chimed in.

"Yes to both," Finn said. "When I came home from work at noon she was gone."

"That's when you called and heard the male's voice on the phone is that correct?" She said.

"Yes," Finn said. "I swear to you that's what happened, look we need to find the guy who did this, she may not have much time," he said frantically.

"Okay calm down," Detective Sylvester said.

"Don't tell me to calm down we have to find her!" he said, pounding the table.

"Look, me and my associate are going to have a word outside, try to pull yourself together a little bit" She said, exiting the room with Detective Schuester.

"Do you believe him?" She said to her partner.

"I don't know, he seems pretty distraught about the whole thing, I think he might be telling the truth."

"Well wouldn't you be distraught if you committed a horrible crime in the heat of passion?"

"Look, a lot of his story checks out, a car rented out to Rachel Berry at 6:45 pm last night was found outside of his apartment which proves that she came to him on her own."

"That doesn't prove that he didn't kill her," she said.

"What makes you think she's dead?"

"This is the real world Schue, stories like this don't usually have happy endings."

"Well, either way we can't hold him without evidence, right now all we have to go on are the rantings of an overprotective mother."

"I know… damn."

When they reentered the room they almost had to take a step back, he looked like more of a wreck than ever. His face was drenched with tears and his whole body shook with anguish.

"Did you know…" Finn said tearfully, not looking up at them "That Rachel loves Tarantino? She just loves him. I always liked the musicals she made me watch but one time I thought we could try something different you know? So I rented Pulp Fiction on Netflix and I don't think she blinked once during that whole movie, and she kept shushing me when I tried to talk to her, it was so cute. After that she made me watch every single one of his movies with her starting that same night, her favorite was Inglourious Basterds. She cried when Shosanna died at the end, like real tears, because that's just the kind of person she is. And I held her and said it was okay because she died a hero. It's just the little things like that that make us work you know?" At that he dissolved into hysterics and buried his face in his arms, his body heaving with powerful sobs. "I have to get her back, I have to save her, I have to save our baby."

"Mr. Hudson," Detective Schuester said tentatively walking up to him and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're free to go."

"What?" Finn said, looking up at him.

"Well, legally we can't keep you here without more evidence," Detective Sylvester said. "But like the old cop cliché goes, don't leave town."

**Shelby just keeps getting more and more awful I know, I hope it's not to the point where she's cartoonishly evil though, I'll be dialing it back a bit after this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

_Somehow he knew who it was without even having to check, he shouldn't have answered it, he knew what would happen if he did, and yet he couldn't stop himself. She stood in his doorway, looking supernaturally gorgeous in an off the shoulder white sweater and short skirt, her hair cascading around her face in loose curls, her cheeks blushing and her lips red and ripe as if she'd just eaten a bowl of wildberries. She had planned this, he knew it._

_"Can I come in?" she said, flashing her perfect smile at him._

_Just say no, make up an excuse, any excuse, just don't let her come in. "Um, sure, yeah," He said stupidly._

_As she walked in he caught a whiff of her sweet scent, making his eyes flutter closed involuntarily, if just for a second._

_"Finn, look. I just came over to say how sorry I am, about last night." She said, wringing her hands nervously. The fact that he could make Rachel Berry nervous would take some getting used to. "It was wrong and unprofessional of me to kiss you like that."_

_"It's cool," he said. "I mean, you were so tired you probably weren't thinking straight, it happens."_

_"It's just that I appreciate you so much, you protecting me. I don't think I've ever really thanked you," she said moving closer to him._

_"Ms. Berry," he said, using the formal term he rested on when he felt things were getting too unprofessional, which was often at that point._

_"But it's not only that," she interrupted "I like to think we've become friends, I feel like I can talk to you about anything and you always listen. That means a lot to me, sometimes I just feel so alone," she said, sounding almost desperate as she placed her hands on his chest and slid them up onto his shoulders. "But with you… I'm your friend right?"_

_"Of course, but…" he lost his train of thought, he'd never been more nervous in his life. She was so close and all he wanted to do was hold her, touch her, kiss her. "Look, Ms. Berry."_

_"Call me Rachel," she said, in almost a whisper._

_"I don't think I should."_

_"Finn, nobody has to know," she said, getting so close he could feel her sweet breath on his face._

_"I think you should leave," he didn't want to be rude, but he didn't trust himself with her._

_"Finn it's okay, I won't tell anyone, I promise. I would never do anything to jeopardize your job."_

_"You're doing it now, but it's not going to work" he said unconvincingly. "Just because you're so beautiful and amazing and because you're touching me and I really, really want to touch you… doesn't mean I…"_

_"You know," she said, almost timidly. "You can kiss me if you want to."_

_"I want to."_

_He couldn't stop himself at that point, her lips were so soft and she tasted so sweet, if kissing her was the only thing he could do for the rest of his life then he would be perfectly okay with it._

_"I've wanted this for a really long time," she whispered huskily into his ear._

_"This isn't right Rachel, I can't do this," he said, kissing and nipping at her neck as she moaned softly and tangled her fingers in his hair._

_"It's okay Finn, I want you to," she pulled off her sweater and pressed her warm body against his, making his skin flush and his pulse race._

_"You can have any guy you want," he said between long, deep kisses._

_"I want you, I've wanted you for so long Finn, and every time I look at you I want you even more. Do you feel the same?"_

_He looked deep into her eyes, her big gorgeous eyes that he couldn't help but get lost in. He reluctantly nodded, "You know how I feel about you."_

_"Show me," she said, sitting down on his bed and giving him a wide-eyed look that made his heart drop into his stomach. He was in deep shit, he thought. He wanted her so much that he couldn't stand it anymore. The one thing that surprised him about Rachel was how sad she seemed a lot of the time, how much she wanted to be loved. The whole world worshipped her yet she still felt so alone, and he didn't think anybody knew how bad it was but him. Something about him shattered her guard and he couldn't ignore how badly she needed him, or how much he loved her. Fuck the rules, he thought as he climbed on top of her and kissed her. They sat up together and he slid her bra strap down, planting soft kisses along her shoulder as she began to unbuckle his belt and shove down his pants. She pulled off his shirt next and helped him remove her bra, wanting desperately to feel his naked skin against hers._

_"I want to feel your mouth on my body," she whispered, and he obliged, taking her nipple between his lips and feeling her shiver under his hands. He slowly removed her moist panties as he continued to taste her, and she slid down his boxers and he slid himself inside of her, hearing her gasp sharply in his ear. He kissed her sweet lips again, silencing her moans as she circled her legs around him, trapping him in her love. It was so wrong, he knew how wrong it was, but nothing had ever felt so right before. He couldn't resist her, and he didn't want to anymore, he only wanted to be with her, just like this._

The memory flashed before his eyes as he drove, the weight of her body in his arms, the feeling of being inside of her, the sound of her whispering his name were all so vivid. The street signs began to blur as his eyes brimmed with tears. He had to find them, he promised that he would get Rachel back and he would no matter what it took, the first step was to find Mercedes. And the first place he thought to look was Shelby's office. Thankfully the bus was there. After going over it again and again in his head he finally figured out where to start. She would help him. The only problem would be getting past Shelby.

"Mercedes," Finn said, finding her outside the tour bus, the same worried look on her face as the rest of the crew that gathered outside awaiting questioning. He let out an inward sigh of relief when he realized that Shelby was nowhere to be found.

"Finn," Mercedes said, hugging him. "What are you doing here, are you okay?"

"No, not even a little," He said. "Mercedes, I need your help."

* * *

><p>Detectives Sylvester and Schuester made sure to be there when Rachel's road crew arrived in LA, finding Rachel had become priority number one in a matter of hours. The story was all over the news, a superstar just didn't go missing without getting people's attention.<p>

The first person they talked to was Shelby.

"Mrs. Corcoran what led you to believe that Mr. Hudson would want to harm your daughter?" Detective Sylvester said.

"It's just the way he was on the phone, he sounded crazed or something," Shelby explained. "And when I called the night before he wouldn't let me talk to her even though she was in his apartment. It just felt to me like he needed to buy himself some time to think of a good story."

"And you're sure your accusing Mr. Hudson had nothing to do with your feelings about his previous relationship with your daughter?" Detective Schuester said.

"It's no secret that I didn't approve of their relationship,"

"And exactly what is Mr. Hudson's relationship with Rachel?" he said.

"Rachel is an amazing girl, I don't blame him for fixating on her, but he took advantage of her trust and vulnerability which is inexcusable."

"Answer the question Mrs. Corcoran," Detective Sylvester said.

"Mr. Hudson and Rachel were dating, I suppose." Shelby admitted. "But once she had her fun with him he would have been kicked to the curb and I didn't need that kind of drama on my tour, so I had him fired. If that led him to do something rash then…" she trailed off after that.

"We think it went a little further than just dating Mrs. Corcoran," Detective Schuester said. "According to Mr. Hudson Rachel is pregnant, with his child."

At that Shelby sunk into her chair, her face aghast. "No, he's lying, Rachel is more responsible than that."

"Well according to security camera footage from a CVS pharmacy in Las Vegas Nevada Ms. Berry did purchase a home pregnancy test at 6:51 PM Last night. We think Mr. Hudson is on the level."

Shelby grasped her mouth, speechless and shaking her head vigorously.

"And if she is indeed pregnant your future grandson or granddaughter is in deep trouble, so we suggest you cooperate with this investigation Mrs. Corcoran," Detective Sylvester said. "We need to know everything."

Shelby wiped the stray tears that rolled down her cheeks and nodded quietly.

* * *

><p>It was cold, damp and dark. She was still blindfolded, she could feel the duct tape pinching the sensitive skin on her eyes. The last thing she remembered was hearing Finn's voice on her phone before her captor snatched it away and knocked her out cold. She didn't see his face, not when he pressed the chloroform soaked rag on her face and snatched her from Finn's apartment that morning and not when he pressed her cell phone to her ear, almost teasingly. She heard his voice though, smooth and haughty, like he was taunting her.<p>

She flinched as he entered the room again, his shoes making an annoying squeaking sound on the damp floor as he approached her.

"How're you doing sleeping beauty?" he said, kneeling down over her.

"What do you want? Please just tell me what you want," Rachel said, sobbing.

"You're so silly," the man said stroking her hair, she wanted to swat his hand away but her hands were tied behind her back. "You see Rachel, I already have what I want."

**Oooh Cliffy! Will Finn be able to find her in time?**


	9. Chapter 9

**BTW the flashbacks I'm including in this story will not be in chronological order, I hope that doesn't confuse anyone.**

_"Check mate," Finn said as he jumped her last black checker, winning the game._

_"We're playing checkers," Rachel said, rolling her eyes._

_"I know, I just like saying that," he said, giving her a sweet half-smile._

_"So what's next? I have Scrabble," she said._

_"Me, playing scrabble? That sounds hilarious."_

_"Well, what do you want to do?"_

_"Why don't you go out? Kurt's birthday party is tonight, you should go."_

_"Are you kidding? The only reason I was even invited was because I walked in on him when he was passing out invites and he felt guilty. Kurt hates me, they all do."_

_"They don't hate you,"_

_"Yes they do," She said dejectedly. "You don't think it was really my fault that Matt quit do you?"_

_"Well, you did make him cry," Finn said carefully._

_"I don't mean to be that way, I just really want this album to be perfect and sometimes in my quest for perfection I guess I can get sort of…_

_"Scary?" Finn said tentatively._

_"I was going to say difficult," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "But I guess what you said applies too. No wonder no one likes me."_

_"Hey," he said, poking her shoulder playfully. "I like you."_

_"You're paid to like me."_

_"I'm paid to protect you, not like you, and if you haven't noticed I'm off duty, I could be doing anything else right now."_

_"Well, why don't you go to Kurt's party?"_

_"I wasn't invited, I'm not a part of their clique yet. But don't let that stop you. I'm telling you if you make an effort to get to know everyone outside work they're bound to warm up to you. Just put on a nice dress and bring him an awesome gift."_

_"I can sing him a song from my new album," She beamed._

_"That's nice but don't you think that's kind of making his gift about you?"_

_"You're right, hey how about…" she got up and pranced over to her bookcase, taking out a slim hardcover and handing it to Finn. "First edition hardback copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's, signed by Truman Capote."_

_Finn studied the book. "Isn't this worth like 1000 bucks?"_

_"7000, but it's okay I have four of them, do you think he'll like it?"_

_"Yeah," Finn said, smiling encouragingly at her, "I think he'll love it."_

_"Great, I'll be ready in 15 minutes."_

_"Okay, I guess I can drop you off on my way home,"_

_"Don't be silly, you're going to be my plus one."_

_"But I'm still in my work clothes."_

_"And you look fantastic," She beamed disappearing into her room._

The acrid smell of ammonium carbonate snapped Rachel out of her pleasant memory of Finn, and once again she found herself bound and shivering on the cold floor of some psycho's personal dungeon and she wondered silently if she was going to suffer any permanent damage from being knocked out so many times.

"Don't worry, you were only out for five minutes or so, but just so you know if you're not going to cooperate that's going to keep happening," said the mysterious voice of her captor.

"Please," she said. "Please let me go, if it's money you're after I have plenty of it."

"Oh, believe me I know," He said. "But I have no interest in money. Like I said before, I have what I want."

Suddenly she felt a deep pain in the pit of her stomach and sweat began to bead on her forehead. If the baby had any idea what was going on perhaps he or she would have been a bit nicer to her, as it was she knew what was coming.

"Bucket," she said unsteadily.

"Excuse me," said the psycho.

"I need a bucket!" she said angrily.

"Are you going to throw up? You wouldn't be the first," he said, placing a bowl beneath her chin. "Fire away."

At that she heaved into the bowl, the bile burning as it came up.

"There you go, let it out. I imagine this must be pretty stressful for you."

She sat back up as she finished. "It's not stress you whackjob, I'm pregnant."

"You know, if you're hoping to get on my good side name calling really isn't the way to go."

"Please just let me go," she sobbed. "Please don't hurt my baby."

"How far along are you? It can't be more than a month or so."

"What does that even matter?" she said, barely containing her temper.

"Well," he said slimily. "Fortunately for America but rather unfortunately for you and the kid I'm pro-choice."

She started to cry at that moment, "Are you, are you going to kill me?" she said almost inaudibly.

"Well, not this very second," he said. "I want to have my fun with you first."

* * *

><p>"Do you have any idea how much trouble I can get into for this," Mercedes said as she let herself into Shelby's office. "I'm interfering with an investigation."<p>

"I'm not asking you to give me any evidence or anything, I just need an address," Finn said.

"And you're sure this is the guy who took Rachel?"

"All I know is that he's been following her for years, he shows up at every concert. If anyone would want to kidnap Rachel it would be him."

"It's not that unheard of for people to follow bands on tour."

"Yeah but there was always something about this guy that didn't sit right with me. I just have a feeling, You manage all of her fan mail, can you help me here?"

"Well I've already handed Rachel's recent fan mail over to the cops but maybe we can find a name on her official site," she said taking a seat at her computer and opening the website.

"Who's the moderator? We'll start there" Finn said.

She clicked on the admin link, "Here, a guy named Jacob Ben-Israel," She said pointing out the moderator's profile.

"Oh my god that's him," Finn said looking at his photo on the web page. "Can you get his address?"

"It's private to the public but as the webmaster I have access to all of the admins personal information," she said entering her password and accessing Ben-Israel's file. "Here, 746 Masry Place, Burbank California."

"Mercedes, you're a goddess," he said scribbling down the address.

"I know," she said shrugging.

"What the hell is going on here?" Finn snapped his attention toward the door, Shelby stood there, shooting him an icy glare.

"Go," Mercedes said.

"Finn what is going on?" Shelby said as he cut past her. "What the hell are you doing in my office?"

"Shelby I would tell you to fuck off, but right now I have to save Rachel and my baby."

"Wait!" she yelled after him. He turned reluctantly. "Do you know who has her?"

"I think I may have a clue, yes."

"Well you have to tell the police."

"Talk to Mercedes, she has the guy's information, until then I'm going to pay him a visit." And with that he left Shelby without another word.

Finn ran to his car in a huff, desperate to get to the man who may have taken Rachel. He knew it was probably a long shot but he was desperate, he couldn't just sit idly by and let the police handle it while the girl he loved and his child were in danger.

"Hey, wait up!" he turned to see a tanned, muscular man about his age running up to his car. "You're Finn," he said as a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah, sorry man I don't really have time—

"You're going to try to find her aren't you?" he said, interrupting Finn.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your replacement," Puck said. "And I want to help."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like this is partially my fault, I'm the one who let her go," Puck explained. "Besides if somebody ever tried to hurt my wife and my little girl and I had to track the asshole down, I would want someone in my corner."

"Get in," Finn said as he ducked into his car, there was no time to argue.

**Finn and Puck to the rescue! Keep reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

_As the bus hopped over a pothole in the freeway, Kurt snapped awake. He hated sleeping on the bus for that very reason. He looked at his watch and groaned as he saw that it was 2 am. There was no way he was going back to sleep without some warm milk and toast. He threw the thin blanket off and dragged himself out of bed to head toward the kitchenette, stopping short when he realized that the light was on. And there was soft chatter coming from inside. Kurt hated to spy… who was he kidding, he loved to spy. Being on the lookout for tour bus scandals was the only thing that kept him sane having to share a quarters with Rachel's roadies Azimio and Karofsky, one of which seemed to have a weird, predatory crush on him. So he didn't hesitate to peek his head in and get a good look. He knitted his brow in confusion when he realized it was Rachel and Finn, and they were standing weirdly close to each other, even closer than the limited space of the kitchenette forced them to._

"_Do you think anybody knows?" Finn whispered softly._

"_Would you relax, nobody has a clue, not even Kurt and he's the world's biggest gossip whore," He couldn't get mad at her for saying it, it was kind of true._

"_I just don't want to get you in trouble with the momager, I really don't think she likes me all that much."_

"_I think you remind her of my dad," She said._

"_Isn't your dad gay?" Finn said confusedly, to which she playfully swatted him. "I only meant that you seem shut off around her, she doesn't know what's going on in your head and I think that freaks her out."_

"_So you're saying I should be more open and honest around Shelby?"_

"_Just don't give her any reasons to think you're up to no good."_

"_But I am up to no good."_

"_Exactly my point," Rachel said. And at that the bus leaped over another pothole, making Finn stumble into Rachel, who caught him with her lips. As they kissed Kurt put his hand over his mouth to keep from gasping. It wasn't that roadmances were all that uncommon, everybody knew about Tina and Mike, Rachel's main back up dancer, and Kurt himself had been trying to get into Blaine the cellist's pants ever since Rachel hired him to replace Matt, but he never would have thought that Rachel the uptight diva was having a secret affair with the hot hired gun, and a forbidden secret affair at that. And he was usually so good at figuring out who was screwing on tour._

_Suddenly he felt a little dirty, and the innocent spying didn't seem so innocent anymore, he hoped that he could get back to his bed without them being any the wiser. But before he could turn around the bus ran into another pothole, breaking Finn and Rachel's secret midnight kiss. Frantically they looked back and forth, catching Kurt right before he could steal away._

"_Kurt, were you spying?" Rachel said._

"_No," Kurt lied, "I was just getting a snack."_

"_How much did you see?" Finn said nervously._

"_Nothing, I mean, just you making out but you know that's nothing."_

"_I'll go talk to him," Rachel whispered to Finn before walking up to Kurt and grabbing his wrist._

"_You little slut," Kurt said playfully._

"_Kurt!"_

"_Look Rachel if you and me are going to be friends you're going to have to learn to live with the occasional backhanded term of endearment," Kurt said coolly. "How long has this been going on?"_

"_I don't know, a few weeks," She said. "Look Kurt, you can't tell anyone, especially not my mother."_

"_Are you gossip blocking me?" Kurt said._

"_Please, no one can know, he'll lose his job and I'll lose him, you have to promise that you'll keep this quiet."_

"_On one condition," Kurt said._

"_Anything, name it," Rachel said._

"_You have to hook me up with the hot cellist, I don't care how, just make it happen."_

"_Consider it done," Rachel said._

"_By the way, what is this thing between you and Finn anyway?"_

"_I think…" Rachel started, smiling a little at the question. "I think that I might be in love with him."_

_"Aww, tear," Kurt teased, pretending to wipe his eyes._

_"Thank you Kurt, you're a good friend," Rachel said._

_"Yeah,all it took was three years and a good scandal"_

So you were the first person to know about Rachel and Finn is that correct?" Detective Sylvester said as Kurt finished recalling the first time he stumbled on their secret romance.

"Yes," Kurt said. "But again I don't understand why you're asking me questions about Finn."

"Well he's our lone suspect," Detective Shuester explained. "Finn was the last person she was with, we have nothing else to go on at this point."

"It's just Shelby stirring up trouble, once she feels she's been betrayed she'll stop at nothing to destroy you," Kurt said. "Just like Jesse her intern from a few months back. I'm not sure what exactly happened there but let's just say he hasn't worked in this town since."

"Even still at this point Finn is the most likely of suspects, he had the motive and the opportunity," Detective Sylvester said.

"You're wasting your time if you think it's Finn," Kurt said. "Finn loved Rachel since before most of us even liked her."

"Well if you know of anyone else who would want to hurt Rachel then it would really help us, anyone at all," Detective Schuester said.

"I don't know, Rachel is famous, I'm sure there are plenty of people who hate her for no reason, and a good deal of people who hate her for very good reasons, she wasn't always the Rachel we know and love today."

"Believe me I've heard the stories," Detective Sylvester said. "Okay Mr. Hummel, thank you for your time."

* * *

><p>Finn drove in silence, contemplating what he was going to do when he came face to face with the sick bastard who took Rachel from him. Somehow he just knew that Ben-Israel had something to do with it. He just hoped that when he found her she'd be okay, that they both would.<p>

Probably growing tired of the silence Puck cut on the radio. "Let's see what the status is," Puck said, turning it to the first news station he could find.

"…27 year old Finn Hudson is the lone suspect in the kidnapping case, Hudson was Rachel's bodyguard for two years before he was terminated for engagin—

"Sorry dude," Puck said, reaching for the knob.

"No," Finn said quietly, "Leave it, it might help."

"Hudson was released from holding today due to lack of evidence but authorities are continuing to investigate Hudson's involvement in the kidnapping. Berry was taken from Hudson's Apartment this morning sometime between 7 am and noon when Hudson filed the initial police report, Berry's Mother Shelby Corcoran is said to have had a falling out with Hudson and informed the police that she suspected Hudson had some involvement in the Kidnapping of the 23 year old singer."

As they pulled up to Ben-Israel's apartment Finn shut off the radio and jumped out of the car. The very idea that anyone would believe that he could hurt Rachel infuriated him. But not as much as the fact that she was still out there somewhere pregnant, scared, possibly hurt, possibly worse, and at the mercy of some crazy asshole.

"Should we just knock?" Puck said.

Finn took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the door, getting no response. He knocked again, nothing.

"Crap," Finn said. "Either he's not home or he's not answering."

"Check this out," Puck said taking his wallet out of his back pocket. In it were two small tools that he took out, beginning to work on the lock. "Just a trick I learned from my days as a teenage criminal," He said getting the lock open after a bit of struggle.

"I am really glad I decided to bring you along," Finn said as they opened the door. As they entered the apartment they both stopped short. It was by far the creepiest thing either of them had ever seen, his apartment was like a shrine to Rachel, Rachel posters plastered on every area of the wall, Rachel calendars for the last five years, Rachel dolls in all of her alternate outfits, everywhere he looked her smiling face looked back at him, and the whole thing made his blood run cold.

"Good call man," Puck said. "This is sick, how long has this dude been obsessed with your girl?"

"Rachel!" Finn began to yell, without knowing what came over him. "Rachel!" and with that he darted into the creeps bedroom, looking under the bed, in the closet, everywhere that he could have hidden her. "Rachel, baby can you hear me!" He checked the bathroom next and his broom closet, everywhere. She was nowhere to be found. All he could do at that point was dissolve into tears, if he did have Rachel, and at that point it was pretty likely that he did, he wasn't keeping her there.

"Finn, you're going to want to look at this," Puck said carefully. Finn wiped the tears from his eyes and rejoined his partner in the living room. "Look dude, it's you."

It was pictures of Finn, all kinds of pictures of Finn, mostly clipped from magazines and tabloids where he appeared behind Rachel, pasted to a dartboard.

"Holy shit," Finn said. "He was looking for me."

"How did he know? I though nobody knew until today."

Finn looked a little closer at the dartboard, noticing that one of the pictures seemed off, he didn't have the same alert, focused look on his face as he did in the others, he was turned sideways and leaning in, his eyes hooded, as if he were bending down to kiss someone. Where had he seen that picture before?

"Wait a minute," Finn said as he removed the cut-out from the dartboard. "It was him, he's the one who sent those pictures to Shelby. He's the one who got me fired."

"Wow, this is even more messed up than we thought," Puck said.

"He needed to get rid of me to get to Rachel, he must have known about the fraternization rule, but how?"

"I don't know but we need to find this guy if we're going to get Rachel back."

"Look everywhere, we'll turn this place upside down if we have to, we need a clue, an address, anything."

"I'm on it," Puck said, beginning to rifle through Jacob's things.

Finn went through his desk looking through every piece of paper he could get his hands on, until something finally got his attention.

"Hey look at this," Finn said.

"What is it?" Puck said taking the card from Finn. "Jacob Ben-Israel, PI?" he said reading it. "Hmm, he's a private investigator, good on him getting paid to do what he's good at, everyone knows PI's are just professional stalkers."

"There's an address, come on," Finn said taking the card and darting out the door.

**They're one step closer to finding Rachel. Will they be too late? Keep Reading and reviewing!**


	11. Chapter 11

_Shelby watched as Rachel primped in the mirror, she knew that her daughter hadn't seen much of Cabo in the three days she'd been there, and it was her last free night before she continued with her North American tour, so she decided that she would lay off a bit that night, even if she wondered inwardly just where she was going and why she was smiling so hard in the mirror, lovingly admiring the delicate gold star necklace that she had just placed around her neck as if it put her quarter of a million dollar Harry Winston Wreath to shame._

"_Wow, you look nice," Shelby said, finally making her presence known._

"Jeez, you scared me," Rachel said, flinching.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Shelby said joining Rachel in front of the mirror.

"_I'm just going out for a bit," Rachel said, smoothing the front of her new Prada dress._

"_Where did you get that necklace? I've never seen it before," Shelby said almost accusingly as she looked closely at her._

"_Oh," Rachel said nervously, putting one hand over the simple charm. "I bought it," she said as if she were hiding something, "You know how I love gold stars."_

"_Pretty," she said, "But don't you think a dress like that deserves an accessory that pops a little more? How about your emerald? It would go great with that shade of purple—_

"_I like my star," Rachel said, cutting her off._

"_Okay," Shelby said putting her hands up defensively. "Just a suggestion, so will Mr. Hudson be accompanying you tonight?'_

"_No, what makes you say that?" Rachel said._

"_I just don't want my girl getting hurt, that's all," Shelby explained._

"_Oh," Rachel said, a bit sheepishly. "Sure, of course, I mean I could ask him."_

"_Okay, well have fun, and be careful." Shelby said "Make sure you're back early though, you have to be in makeup at 6 tomorrow for the morning show on location."_

"_I won't be out too late I promise."_

_At that Shelby kissed Rachel lightly on the cheek and looked at Rachel's reflection over her shoulder. "You know, I'm sorry honey but I really think you should go with the emerald."_

_Rachel nodded in defeat. "Fine," she said, removing the star and replacing it with the big emerald pendant she'd received as a gift from Lady Gaga._

"_Much better," Shelby said before turning and starting to leave. but she didn't head back to her room right away, instead she took one final look at her daughter. Just then Rachel__ looked behind her shoulder for a few seconds, presumably to make sure that Shelby was really gone before taking off the Emerald pendant and once again replacing it with her gold necklace, turning her lips up in a small smile upon evaluating her appearance._

"_Perfect," Rachel said quietly to herself, not realizing that Shelby was still watching._

Shelby poured herself another glass of scotch as she thought about Rachel. The alcohol was the only thing that calmed her at that point. She couldn't run away from the fact that if she wouldn't have fired Finn Rachel never would have been kidnapped, and the guilt ground away at her. It wasn't so much that she didn't like Finn, she barely took the chance to get to know him, it was more the implication of the whole thing. Rachel was sneaking around, lying, falling in love and apparently getting pregnant without Shelby having any say in it, it was as if trying to keep her close had made her more distant than ever. And if Rachel didn't come home, she would never get a chance to set things right.

"Mrs. Corcoran, do you want me to call for your car?" Mercedes said, entering Shelby's office. "I think the detectives are done with us for the day,"

"Mercedes, do you think it was my fault?" Shelby said, her mind numb from the alcohol.

"Was what your fault?"

"I fire Finn, because in my own twisted mind I thought I was protecting her, and then she gets kidnapped, pretty ironic isn't it?"

"Mrs. Corcoran the only way it could have been your fault is if you had kidnapped her yourself," Mercedes said reassuringly. "We all know you love Rachel."

"That's just it, I love Rachel, I love her so much that the second anyone gets too close to us, to changing our well established dynamic I run them off. Just like Jesse."

"Jesse was a special case," Mercedes said.

"Jesse was a kid, and I threw him to the wolves. it's what I do, it's what I did to Finn and all he ever did was take care of Rachel."

"Shelby, I know in my heart that Rachel will be alright," Mercedes said, taking a seat next to Shelby, "And then maybe when she's back home where she belongs, you two can have a very long overdue talk."

"I wish I could be that confident," Shelby said. "Okay, call the car, I'm ready to go home now."

* * *

><p>"This is the place," Finn said as he and Puck pulled up to the small office building.<p>

"Do you think he'll be here?" Puck said.

"If he's not then maybe somebody will be able to tell us where he is," Finn and Puck hopped out of the car and entered, looking back and forth for suite 114.

"There," Puck said, letting himself and Finn into the third doorway in the hall.

The office was gray and mostly barren aside from a desk and a couple of generic black and white framed prints on the wall.

"Looks like he doesn't take his obsession to work with him," Puck whispered over to Finn.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" said the robust, bespectacled woman sitting behind the desk, not looking up from her reading.

"Why yes… Ms. Zises?" Puck said reading the name on the desk. "We're looking for Jacob Ben-Israel, I think my old lady's been cheating and I want to nail that bitch to the wall."

"He went to have some dinner but he should be back in a few minutes if you want to wait for him in his office," she said nonchalantly.

"Thank you," Finn said starting into the adjacent office with Puck following behind.

"Alright try to be quiet," Finn said "I'll take the file cabinets, you try to see what you can find on the computer."

"Wait a minute," Puck said, noticing the candles sitting on Ben-Israel's desk surrounding a picture of Rachel and a small sign reading _follow these lights home_. "Look at this."

Finn looked where Puck was looking, "That is kind of weird."

"Well clearly weird is what we're dealing with here," Puck agreed "still… why would he set up a candlelit vigil for someone that _he_ kidnapped?"

Finn didn't have time to speculate as Jacob Ben-Israel entered the office.

"You son of a bitch!" Finn seethed, pouncing across the office and grabbing him by the shirt, picking him up nearly a foot off of the ground and slamming him against the wall. "Where is she!" he roared.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Lauren call the cops!" he said as he noticed Lauren standing in the door.

"Puck, Stop her," Finn said. Puck obliged, following Zises out of the room and hoping to stall her phone call to the police. "You, where is Rachel? I know you took her you sick son of a bitch."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't take anyone," The terrified private investigator swore, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Why are there pictures of her all over your apartment? Why do you follow her to all of her concerts? Why did you take pictures of us in Cabo? Answer me!"

"I'm self employed, I have too much time on my hands," he explained frantically. "And the pictures, that wasn't me, well it was me who took them but I was hired, I swear. I would never harm Rachel Berry, I worship her."

"You're lying I know you took her," Finn said. "Tell me where she is!"

"Zises is taken care of," Puck said, reentering the office. "What does this asshole have to say for himself?"

"I swear to you I was hired to take those pictures, I couldn't turn down the money, if I had known that Rachel would get hurt I never would have done it, I swear," Jacob pleaded, continuing to sob. "If I was going to hurt anyone it would be you, you don't deserve her you glorified rent-a-cop."

Finn slammed him against the wall again, not so much upset that he'd been insulted as much as annoyed that he refused to cooperate.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please just let me go," Jacob cried.

"Dude he's pissing himself," Puck said, noticing the wet spot expanding on Jacob's slacks. "I think he's telling the truth. This guys fucking insane but I don't think he's a kidnapper."

"I can't take that risk," Finn said.

"Look, don't you think Rachel could take this pathetic assclown if he tried to mess with her?" Puck said.

Finn's grip on him loosened a bit. "Okay, say I believe you, who hired you? I need to know."

"I can't divulge that information," Ben-Israel said.

"If you want us to beat it out of you we will," Puck threatened.

"Look Jacob, if you really care about Rachel you'll tell me who hired you. This information can save her life, please, just tell me who hired you to take those photos," Finn pleaded. Jacob hesitated a little. "Or we can beat it out of you like Puck said."

"Okay! Okay!" He said, finally relenting. "He used to work for Rachel's mother Shelby Corcoran, he was an intern about six months ago."

"I need a name," Finn seethed.

"Jesse," Ben-Israel croaked. "Jesse St. James."

**You didn't think I would make it that easy for them did you? Keep reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

_It was Jesse's favorite time of the night, the time when everyone went home and they had the office to themselves. Rachel had just finished recording her latest album and was set to start her North American tour in a little over a month, so to say that things were hectic was putting it mildly. He didn't mind, the work was stressful, sure, but he was good at it and it was good for him to keep busy. But the best part about the internship was being near her. He wasn't supposed to fall for her, and if anybody ever found out then her reputation would suffer, he knew that, but he didn't care. She was gorgeous, smart, successful, everything he had ever looked for in a woman. Tonight was the night. He was going to tell her that he loved her._

_He stared intensely into the mirror, gripping the counter with both hands and taking deep breaths in and out._

"_I love you," He said, into the mirror. "I'm in love with you, I've been in love with you since the first moment I saw you, and when we made love for the first time, I knew in my heart that I never wanted to make love to any other woman ever again, and I know this is crazy because we haven't known each other long, but I know deep down in my soul that you're the only one." He smiled a little, impressed with his speech, at that he reached into his pocket and pulled out his pills, unscrewing the cap and tossing two into his mouth, swallowing without water. "Okay, here goes St. James."_

_He left the bathroom and started toward the office, confident and excited. Her door was usually open at that time of night, all the better to allow him access to their secret trysts._

_She was sitting on her desk when he entered, her legs crossed a glass of scotch in one hand._

"_For me?" he said, taking the glass from her before sweeping her hair back and pressing a kiss to her neck._

"_Please Jesse," Shelby said, taking the glass back, "Are you even old enough to drink?"_

"_For two whole months now," He said confidently. He kissed her again, on the mouth this time, and she set the glass down and cupped his face in her hands, deepening the kiss as she leaned back a little and he placed his hands on her desk on either side of her._

"_There's something I wanted to tell you," he said breathlessly, breaking the kiss._

"_What's that?" She said as she began to unbuckle his belt._

"_Listen," Jesse said, grabbing both of her hands in his and staring into her eyes intensely. _

"_Shelby… I love you."_

_She knitted her brow in confusion and chuckled a little at his confession, not believing her ears._

"_Did you hear me?" Jesse continued._

"_Oh yeah, I heard you," She said, pushing him away gently and getting up off the desk._

"_Well I meant it, I'm in love with you. I fell in love with you the first momen—_

"_Okay, hold on," Shelby said, interrupting him. "Jesse you're not in love with me."_

"_But I am," he insisted. "You're everything I've ever wanted in a woman."_

"_Look, you're a sweet kid and, you know, we have fun but…"_

"_Fun? That's what you call it?" Jesse said._

"_I'm old enough to be your mother," She said. "I just assumed this was some sort of frat boy rite of passage for you."_

"_Shelby you know that you mean more to mean than that. Your age is of no consequence to me, I would love you no matter what age you were."_

"_Okay will you please stop telling me that you love me?" Shelby snapped._

"_You still just think of me as some kid don't you?" he scoffed, narrowing his eyes at her._

"_Jesse you know how intelligent and talented I think you are, but there's no real future here, you know that. I mean you're younger than my daughter for chrissakes."_

"_Oh so that's what this is about? I should have known," He seethed."Nothing can come between you and your precious little star, not even your own happiness. "_

"_Okay this is getting a little intense for me," Shelby said nervously. "Maybe we should both go home and get a good night's sleep."_

"_I know that I make you happy, you can't run away from that, it's real between us," He said, grabbing her wrists as she started toward the door._

"_Jesse, you're hurting me."_

"_And you're killing me!" He cried. _

"_Jesse for God's sake calm down!" She said, breaking free from his grasp. "I'm sorry if I made you believe that this was more than just a casual thing, but I assure you, that's all it was." _

"_Why are you doing this? Is it because you're afraid of ruining your reputation?"_

"_Jesse you are going to find a wonderful girl one of these days, one your own age who realy loves yo—_

"_I don't want anyone else! I want you!" He roared, sweeping the photo frames and desk ornaments off of the top of her desk in a rage._

"_Leave, right now!" Shelby fumed. "Get out of my office before I call security."_

"_So what you're just dumping me?" Jesse said, hot tears brimming in his eyes._

"_No, I'm firing you." Shelby said. "Get out of here Jesse." And at that he tore past her charging through the door and slamming the door behind him so hard that the windows rattled._

Jesse polished the long blade in his hand as he thought about the last time he'd spoken to Shelby Corcoran. It was six months ago, and the entire time had been dedicated to figuring out how to get her back. Finally it came to him, get rid of Rachel Berry, she was the only thing keeping them apart, he knew it, he knew that Shelby would be his if she didn't have Rachel to hold her back anymore. The only problem was Finn. Finn never let Rachel far from his sight. It was as if keeping her safe was the only thing that mattered, his only hope was to get her away from him, which he did with the help of an obsessive fan with a camera. His moment finally came when she escaped to Los Angeles, completely unaware that she was being followed every step of the way.

"Please, can you please tell me what you're thinking right now?" Rachel said, her voice hoarse and choked with terrified sobs.

"I'm thinking you should shut your mouth!" He snapped.

"I just don't understand why you're so quiet."

"I was thinking about someone," he said quietly.

"Wh-who?" Rachel stammered.

"If you must know, I was thinking about a girl," Jesse said. "Well, more like a woman. A woman who looks a good deal like you actually."

"Did you love her?" Rachel said.

"That's not going to work," Jesse said shortly. "If you're trying to get me to feel guilty about murdering you then just forget it."

"I just don't understand why I'm here," She sobbed.

"You know what? You're right. I have been rather cryptic haven't I?" He said. She still couldn't see him but she heard him walking toward her and she could feel the heat from his body as he crouched down over her. "I haven't even introduced myself, although you may recognize me, we never talked really but I was very close with your mother."

"My mother?" Rachel said confusedly.

"You know that fun I said that we were going to have together? I think I'm ready to start. But first, let's lose this blindfold."

Rachel cried out in pain as he quickly ripped the duct tape from over her eyes. Through the tears that gathered she could finally make out her surroundings, it looked like some sort of bunker, gray and empty. And she could finally see her captor's face, blue eyes, curly brown hair, handsome and familiar.

"Jesse?" She whispered.

"It's good to see you again Rachel."

* * *

><p>Getting Shelby on the phone took longer than Finn would have expected, he would have thought that she would pick up after one ring considering how on edge she was, but it took three phone calls for her to finally answer.<p>

"Hello?" Shelby said, slurring her words a little. She was drunk, of course she was drunk, he thought, all the better to screw him out of the information he needed.

"Shelby it's Finn, I need your help," he cried.

"Finn?" Shelby said confusedly. "Why is it that every time I pick up the phone it's you on the other end?"

"Shelby I need you to focus," Finn said. "I need to know how to find Jesse St. James."

"Jesse St. James?" Shelby said. "I haven't thought about that name in months."

"Please Shelby just tell me how I can find him, Rachel's life is at stake, I know that you want her back more than anything."

"I do," She said, tears in her throat. "But what does Jesse have to do with Rachel?"

"I don't have time to explain, just please tell me how to find him."

"He goes to UCLA, but he had an off-campus residence, rich parents."

"Where is it? Can you look up the address for me?"

"514 Brewer St. Los Angeles," She said. "I know it well."

"Thank you Shelby," Finn said, scrawling down the address and not taking the time to read too much into Shelby's weird behavior as he pressed end.

Puck glanced at Finn out of the corner of his eye as he drove. He didn't look triumphant about getting the address from Shelby, in fact he had never seen a man look more broken, and as they sped toward their destination he wondered what he could possibly say to him in that situation.

"Can you please tell me where we're going?" Jacob said from the backseat.

"I told you to shut up!" Puck yelled, causing Jacob to shrink down in his seat. "Look we're going to get her back okay," he said to Finn, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We're running out of time, how do I know that she isn't hurt, or worse? How do I know that it's Jesse who has her? Maybe he sent those pictures to Shelby for something else, how do I know—

"Look, we'll find her." Puck said firmly as he pulled into the police station.

"Are you turning me in?" Jacob said frantically.

"No," Finn said jumping out of the car and going over to Jacob's side, opening the door and yanking him out. "You're turning yourself in. You're going to tell them everything you told us. If we get the police on our side then we have a better chance of getting Rachel back."

"How do you know I won't just run away?" Jacob said.

"Because if you tell them what you did then the most you'll get is a restraining order and a slap on the wrist, if you don't…" He said shoving Jacob toward the building. "…I'll find you."

At that Jacob entered the precinct needing no more convincing as Finn went back to the car.

"Okay," Finn said as Puck continued to drive, "514 Brewer St. I'm coming baby, just hold on."

**Okay, just so you know, I don't hate Jesse. In fact I hate it when people demonize characters in fics for the sole purpose of making their OTP look better by comparison (Finn is a frequent victim of this). To me, much like Shelby, Jesse is more of a neutral character that I can bend to my whims in stories, because let's face it, he's kind of that way on the show too. So here he's a psycho killer, but I have written him in a sympathetic light before, and probably will again at some point. Oh and did it surprise anyone that Shelby was the one that he was in love with, not Rachel? Or did you see that coming? St. Jailbait has always been a crackship of mine and I kind of hope they hook up on the show at some point, that would be drama I could live with. Anywhoo, keep reading, we're almost there guys!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I thought I'd give you two updates today, since the fourth took up most of my time yesterday, enjoy!**

Rachel tried not to shake violently as Jesse applied makeup to her tear stained face, she didn't want to cooperate with whatever crazy project he expected her to take part in, but she didn't want to piss him off either. She had no idea where she was or how to escape, her only option was to stay on his good side for as long as possible. She hated not knowing how it all would end, whether she would ever see the light of day again, whether she would ever see her mother or Kurt or her darling Finn ever again. When she thought about never seeing Finn again, about him never kissing her or holding her again, about them never getting to meet their child, she only sobbed harder.

"Come on Rach, this is going to be the last time your dear mother ever sees you alive, don't you want to look your best?" Jesse said.

"Why are you doing this?" she said, crying and hyperventilating, as much as she wanted to stay calm every time he talked about killing her she dissolved into hysterics, as if she had forgotten since the last time he told her.

"I'm trying to send a message," he explained. "Okay, stand up and look forward." he continued as he put down the makeup sponge and picked up his knife. She did as she was told, trying to negotiate her way around the chains that bound her to the pipes coming out of the wall.

She faced him as he began to cue up his camera, she wished that she knew what he was planning, was he going to kill her on tape? Her body tensed up as he got in front of it, readying himself to speak.

"Hello Shelby," Jesse said into the camera. "Remember me? Remember how you rejected me after I poured my heart out to you? Well, I just want you to know that I forgive you, and I understand. I understand that Rachel is the most important thing in your life. I understand that you would do anything for her, even if it means spending the rest of your life alone. But I'm telling you that I'm not going to let her come between us anymore. "Say goodbye to your mother Rachel." He turned the camera toward Rachel.

"Please, please help me!" Rachel cried.

"Rachel, that's not what we're here for," he said walking up to her, knife in hand. "We're here so you can say your goodbyes to Shelby," he slid the knife down her jawline as she cried. "You don't want your dear mother to remember you this way do you? So upset?"

She didn't know what had come over at that point, but without thinking she headbutted him as hard as she could, making him double over in pain.

"Jesus Rachel!" He said, holding his nose. "We were just talking, I haven't even stabbed you yet."

"Fuck you!" She yelled, before spitting on him for good measure.

"I think you broke my nose," he said, and before she could move even the short distance the chains would allow her he plunged his knife into her side.

"Ahh!" She screamed helpless and stricken with pain.

"It's colder than you would think huh?" He whispered, his lips right next to her ear. "Try to stay calm, if you panic you might kill the kid," He continued, sliding the knife out and cleaning it on his shirt. "Now can you try to be a little more cooperative?"

"If you're just going to kill me anyway why should I do anything you say?" She spat.

"Hmm, good point," Jesse said striking once more.

"Okay!" She cried before the knife could make contact again. "Okay."

"Alright," Jesse said, going back to his camera. "Now that you're done having your little tantrum let's finish this. Any last words for Shelby Rachel?"

* * *

><p>It was a nice complex, quiet and secluded with several trees surrounding the area. And as they pulled up to it something told Finn that he was close, it was as if he could feel her presence, although it just as easily could have been his panicked mind trying to help him through it.<p>

"She's here, I know it," Finn said, charging out of the car. "We're going to have to hop the gate."

Puck followed him out of the car and they both scaled the iron gate with more difficulty than either of them would have liked.

"Okay, I'll look for unit 514, you go to the front office and see if there are any secluded rooms or areas in the complex, like a storage room or something." Finn said as they landed on the other side. "If he was going to hurt Rachel he would want to do it someplace where he wouldn't be heard."

"Okay, good luck man," Puck said, stealing away to the front office as Finn started toward unit 514.

He found it after about five minutes, five minutes that felt like hours. It was a downstairs apartment, and there were no lights on that he could see. He had knocked on Ben Israel's door, but he wouldn't give Jesse St. James the same courtesy, there was no time. For the first time that night he reached for his gun and grabbed it as he kicked the door in with all of his might. It was almost total darkness inside, if he was home then he was doing a very good job of hiding it. He clicked on the light and took in his surroundings as he aimed the gun. It was nothing like Ben-Israel's apartment, there was nothing there to suggest that he was dealing with a psycho. It was maybe a little neater than anything he was used to but overall it was a perfectly unassuming space, so why did he feel so instantly creeped out upon setting foot in it.

The apartment was much bigger than Jacob's, meaning there were a lot more places where she could be hiding. He checked the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, his walk-in closet, everywhere he could think of, she was nowhere to be found. His only hope was that the front office had information that they could use. He put his gun back in the holster and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Puck as quickly as possible.

"Finn, I was just about to call," Puck said after one ring.

"What did you find out?"

"She wouldn't tell me anything, they were closed."

"Shit!" Finn said.

"Let me finish, Puck said. "So I asked the groundskeeper, he said that this complex was built in the '50's during the height of the Red scare."

"What does that mean?" Finn said.

"It means that some of the apartments were built with underground bunkers including—"

"514," Finn said as a statement rather than a question. "Where's the entrance?"

"In the walk-in closet there's a door in the floor, it's under the carpet so it could be hard to see upon first glance."

At that Finn hung up the phone and grabbed his gun once again, racing toward Jesse's room. He crouched on all fours, feeling for some sort of groove or indentation in the closet floor. When he finally felt it his heart leapt in his chest. This was it, this was the moment part of him feared would never come. He could hear her, he could hear her sobbing as he carefully opened the door, she was alive. He breathed a sigh of relief he felt he had been holding onto since he found her gone from his apartment seven hours earlier.

"Rachel, you're stalling is getting really annoying," said the same voice he had heard on the phone earlier, albeit a little more nasal than he remembered. "I'm letting you say goodbye out of the goodness of my heart now say the words before I run out of patience."

This was the moment, he didn't have a second to spare. He opened the door and lowered himself in as quietly as he could manage. As he climbed down the ladder he finally saw her. She was hurt, she was bleeding from her side and the skin over her eyes was pink and raw, but she was alive. Jesse's back was turned towards him as he looked through his camera, and Rachel's eyes were squeezed shut in terror, so neither of them could see him enter. And he hoped that it stayed that way until he could get to Rachel. No such luck, at that moment she opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw upon looking behind Jesse was Finn. He put his finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet and she obliged, looking at Jesse once more.

"Okay Jesse, I'll do it. I'll say goodbye," she said, her voice shaking.

"Good girl," Jesse said.

"Mom, if you're watching this I just wanted to say that I love you," she said, trying her best to keep her cool and not to look at Finn. "A-and I want you to be happy, so that's why I have to go away now..."

Finn took it one silent step at a time as she talked, not breathing once as he inched forward, until finally his gun was pressed to the back of Jesse's head.

"Let her go," Finn growled.

"See what you did Rachel, if we could have gotten this over with sooner you wouldn't have to watch me kill your boyfriend." Jesse chuckled. "It is Finn behind me right now am I right?"

"I said let her go," Finn repeated through clenched teeth.

"Or what?" Jesse said smugly.

"Or I'll splatter your brain all over that nice camera of yours."

"Oh please," Jesse said confidently, turning to face him. "Have you ever killed anyone before? There's a reason the hero always hesitates to kill the bad guy at the end of the movie. Unless you're a psychopath it's fucking hard. Fortunately for me but quite unfortunately for you I _am_ a psychopath." At that Jesse whipped the gun out of his face and plunged his knife into Finn's stomach. Finn's eyes went wide at the shock and he dropped to his knees.

"Finn!" Rachel screamed. "No! You bastard, I'll kill you, you bastard."

"I'd like to see you try," Jesse said. "The last time I checked you were still chained to a pipe. Now where wer—

Rachel jumped as the gunshot sounded and Jesse stopped in his tracks.

"Rachel," Jesse said, blood spilling out of his mouth. "Tell you mother I love her." Another gunshot sounded after that, this one sending Jesse to his knees, and as he fell onto the floor she saw Finn laying there, sweat beading on his forehead and his face twisted in anguish as he aimed the gun.

"Y-you're r-right Jesse," Finn said, struggling to talk but somehow managing to pull himself up off of the ground as he held his bleeding abdomen. "Killing a man never gets easier." At that he shot him a third time in the forehead, killing him.

"Finn!" Rachel cried again, and he stumbled up to her, dropping his gun and taking her face in his hands, smearing his blood on her cheek as he pressed his lips to hers as if it was the last time he would ever kiss her, and as she kissed him back she prayed to God that it wouldn't be.

"I fou- I found you," He said, still struggling to stay on his feet. "I found you."

"You're going to be alright okay," She said, sobbing. "Just hold on. Help! Somebody help us!"

"What happened?" Rachel snapped her gaze to the entrance as Puck entered frantically.

"What the hell took you so long man?" Finn said weakly, and with that he collapsed onto the floor again.

"Puck call an ambulance!" Rachel cried, crouching down beside him, she wanted to hold him, to comfort him, but her arms were still chained behind her back.

"Hello, Rachel Berry has been found alive. I need an ambulance at 514 Brewer St. There's been one fatality and two injuries, one possibly critical," Puck said urgently into the phone.

"Finn look at me, keep looking at me," Rachel said.

"You're safe now, It's okay," Finn said, his voice weakening.

"I'm not okay without you, you have to hold on," Rachel sobbed as he swept his thumb across her cheek.

"She's right Finn, hang in there, you'll be alright," Puck said pressing end on his phone and going up to Rachel to free her from her chains. "The ambulance will be here any minute. You'll be alright."

He managed to get her hands unbound after a bit of struggle and she shook the chain off frantically "Please, hold on," she cried bitterly into Finn's mouth as she cupped his face and kissed him. "Please don't leave me."

**Jesse is dead and Rachel is safe, but they're not out of the woods yet. Stay tuned for the last chapter before the epilogue.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I seriously feel like a dick for taking this long to update after the last chapter. But here it is, enjoy!**

Shelby rocked back and forth in the waiting room chair, she was beside herself with worry, they all were. Puck paced the floor, while Kurt offered coffee to Finn's anxious mother. Everyone from the tour and family asked to be notified when they learned the news of Finn's condition. Rachel would be fine, the knife wound to her side was more to scare her than anything, and her baby was unharmed in the attack, But Shelby still couldn't live with herself knowing that Finn could die, that the father of her grandchild, the man her daughter loved was fighting for his life and it was partially her fault. The world was rejoicing Rachel's rescue while the people who knew Finn were in pieces. She always knew on some level that Jesse had problems. His intensity was one of the things that attracted her to him, even as it slightly unnerved her at times. But she never would have believed that he would try to hurt Rachel. The whole thing was just too insane for her to wrap her head around. At that point all she could do was wait, wait and hope.

After a few silent moments that seemed to stretch on forever Shelby snapped out of her guilt-stricken daze when Carole Hudson shot up from her seat to meet the entering doctor.

"Is my son okay?" Carole said, barely containing her anxiety.

"He's out of surgery, we moved him to the ICU." The doctor started. "But it's too soon to tell whether he'll pull through or not."

Carole nodded solemnly as Shelby and the others listened in.

"Can I see him?" Carole said.

"He's heavily sedated," The doctor said, "but if you'd like to sit with him for awhile, that would be just fine."

Thank you she said, following the Doctor out.

* * *

><p>They advised her not to move around too much for the next couple of days, if only to keep from damaging her sutures, but there was no keeping her away from Finn's side once he got ot of surgery. She had never seen him that way before. Even when he slept it almost always seemed like he had a small smile on his face, like he was dreaming nice dreams. But he was like stone now, and as she held his hand she noticed it didn't feel warm the way it usually did.<p>

"You have to be okay Finn," Rachel said through bitter tears. "You have to be okay, our baby needs its father and I could never find a better one than you, not ever. Do you hear that? Our little boy or girl is okay, you saved our child Finn. I'm just so proud of you." At that she broke down into sobs, not noticing that Carole Hudson walked in behind her. She shuddered a little as Carole put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Carole said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That's okay," Rachel said, smiling weakly.

"Oh my god," Carole said, crying and looking down at her critically injured son. "My poor baby."

"He was so brave," Rachel said. "You should be so proud of him."

"I am. And you know, I really wish I didn't have to meet you this way," Carole said. "I'm such a fan, you can ask my son."

"I wish I didn't have to meet you this way either," Rachel said, wiping her tears.

"It's so good of you to be here for him," Carole said. "I know you'd probably rather be at home resting."

Rachel gazed down at him sadly "Well, I love him more than anything in the world," Rachel said and at that Carole looked at her in confusion.

"Oh, he didn't tell you," Rachel said as a statement rather than a question. "And I guess you haven't been watching the news either."

"The phonecall I got, I didn't wait for the details I just heard that Finn was attacked and I bought the first ticket to LA."

"Well then I guess it's safe to assume that you haven't heard..."

"What is it sweetie?" Carole said.

"Finn is going to be a father," Rachel said, putting her free hand over her stomach. Carole didn't respond with words she just smiled at her and grabbed the hand that held Finn's, squeezing a little. "He'll be okay," Rachel said, her voice shaking. "I know he will."

"I think you're right," Carole said as if she was trying to convince herself more than anything.

Carole somehow managed to fall asleep after awhile, probably from jet lag, she refused Rachel's offer to put her up in the Beverly Wilshire for the night, choosing instead to stay with her son. Rachel understood, there was no place she would rather be either. She couldn't let go of his hand, she couldn't stop looking at him, silently praying that he would open his eyes. She didn't know whether everyone else had stuck around, not even her mother. She hadn't spoken to Shelby much while they patched her up, she had no idea what to say. When Shelby hugged her and cried all Rachel could do was weakly hug her back, letting her know that she still loved her but wasn't ready to talk at that point yet. Shelby seemed to understand, she didn't push, and Rachel appreciated it.

"Have you been there the whole time honey?" Carole said groggily as she woke up.

Rachel simply nodded, still looking at Finn.

"Any change?" Carole continued.

Rachel shook her head, still looking at Finn.

"Well, I could use some coffee. Did you want to go down with me?" Carole said getting up.

"No, I'm okay here," Rachel assured her, finally glancing up at Carole.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Carole said either to Finn, Rachel or both, and she put a hand on her shoulder before leaving the room.

She stroked his hand with her thumb and gently ran her fingers through the messy hair at his temple and ignored the pain in her back from standing for six straight hours. She didn't care how long it took, she would stay with him until he woke up. Or until he died, but she tried not to think about that.

"You know a year ago, that night after I did Letterman and we went to that hole in the wall sushi place and we got a little tipsy on sake, and I let it slip that it was always my dream to be on Broadway?" Rachel said, knowing he probably couldn't hear her but carrying on anyway. "You know what you said? You said that I should just go for it, and I'm pretty sure it was an alcohol fueled joke at the time but you said that you would come with me, that we could get an apartment together and you could use the money you saved protecting me from Rabid theatre fans to open a sports bar with a Karaoke Machine and one of those electric Bulls. And you would sing for your customers every night. I didn't even know that you could, but you sang Journey for me that night and you were so good Finn, I wasn't just saying that." She started to get choked up at that point, but she kept talking. "Well I have something to tell you. I'm not renewing my contrct with the record company. After we have our baby I'm moving to New York. And you know what? You're coming with me, not as my bodyguard, just as my Finn, and you're going to open your bar and I'm going to sing there too, I'm very famous so I'm bound to attract business. That's why you have to pull through, so we can start our life together Finn, without all of the secrets and hiding. I don't want to hide anymore, and there's something I wanted to ask you, and I know that you probably can't hear this, but I'm going to ask anyway. Finn Hudson... will you marry me?"

"Yes."

Rachel had to do a double take, had he just spoken?

"What?" Rachel said, not sure if her mind was playing tricks on her.

He squeezed her hand and his eyes slowly fluttered open. "But don't think just because you asked me that means you wear the pants in this relationship," he joked groggily.

She could barely contain her relief and excitement at that moment, it was as if her heart had leaped out of her chest. "Finn! Oh my god," She bent down and kissed his lips over and over, crying and laughing and overflowing with emotion. "I love you so much, don't ever scare me like that again."

At that he slowly lifted his hand, struggling to move a little, but managing to land on her stomach. "Our baby?" he said.

"Yeah," she beamed. "You saved me Finn, you saved our baby."

"I had to," He said, still sleepily. "I love you," and at that he closed his eyes again, exhausted but alive.

**Okay I lied, there's one more chapter after this,_ then_ the epilogue.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for another slow update, especially one with so little Finchel action, but this chapter is more about Rachel and Shelby. Hope you like it!**

She wished she knew how long it would take for things to get better, how long before she could turn on the news without hearing her name right off the bat, how long it would take for her to be able to walk outside without being swarmed by reporters. It had been three days since her safe return, but she still felt like a prisoner. As much as she hoped for Finn to get well she took some comfort in the fact that he didn't have to deal with any of the madness while he was safe in his hospital room. They were almost more interested in his story than hers, a good deal of the questions launched at her were about Finn. Puck requested for the sake of his family that his involvement in her rescue wouldn't be reported to the media, and Rachel obliged, but he was hardly free from the vultures, he was still Rachel's bodyguard, and it was his job to keep them at a safe distance. Even worse than the constant presence of reporters was the constant torment of her own thoughts. She couldn't stop thinking about Jesse, his voice, his manic stare, the cold feeling of his knife against her skin, and above all his chilling last words, "tell your mother I love her." Had he really loved Shelby? Had Shelby loved him? She knew that she souldn't have allowed herself to care, that she should feel nothing but pure hatred for the one who nearly took Finn's life, but she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, and very sorry for Shelby. It was then Rachel realized how little she actually knew about her mother's life outside of her. She had always assumed that Shelby didn't care about anything aside from Rachel. It wasn't the way Rachel wanted it to be, it was just the way it was, everything Shelby and stardom was the life she had become accustomed to until Finn came along and showed her that she could have more, that she could have love, that she could have friends, that her career wasn't her reason for living and that her mother wasn't the only person who would ever love her. But even as Rachel began to claim her independence it never crossed her mind that Shelby was missing something too, that she wanted all of the things that Rachel wanted and simply wouldn't allow herself to have them. Jesse may have been a psycho, but he wasn't entirely wrong, Shelby never gave herself a chance to be happy. But that was about to change, a lot of things were going to have to change.

"Mom?" Rachel said, entering Shelby's sprawling bedroom, Mercedes had let her in, and she didn't know quite what to expect, but Shelby looked great. She was dressed in her best charcoal pencil skirt a silky white blouse and sky high stilettos, her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail and her bluetooth was firmly attached as she paced the floor.

"No Bryan, I'm telling you that a press conference isn't the right move... because a morning show appearance would be a lot less overwhelming, no flash photography, no barrage of questions coming from all ends... of course I'm going to ask her but I'm telling you she's going to agree with me... okay Bry, we'll talk later." Shelby took out her bluetooth and set it on the table before giving Rachel what looked like a very forced smile. "Hi, sweetie, sorry, that was Bryan Ryan from the associated press, he's trying to set up a conference but I said not a chance. So, how are you feeling?"

"Good, better" Rachel said, giving her a weak smile. "I agree, about the morning show."

"Are you sure? Because I wouldn't want you to do anything that you're not ready for," Shelby said.

"I think I'm ready, the sooner I can speak out to the public the easier they'll take the news."

Shelby knitted her brow in confusion. "What news honey?"

She wasn't sure how to break it to her, she knew that she would be devastated, but she also knew that it would be better for them both in the long run.

"Mom, I'm not going to be renewing my contract next year," Rachel finally said.

Shelby smiled at first, as if it were a joke. "What do you mean, we've discussed this Rachel, we had a plan."

"I know, the thing is, my plans have changed."

"Rachel, honey I am so sorry about what happened with Jesse, I know it must be so hard for you to have this trauma so fresh in your mind. I should have known that he needed help I mean, when I think about all of the ways I could have prevented this it just makes me sick. But that's no reason to just give up on everything you've worked for."

"Mom," Rachel said. "I'm not quitting because of what happened with Jesse. Although Jesse did help me to realize something,"

"Rachel, you'er not making any sense."

Rachel's eyes began to brim with tears at this point. "Mom, Jesse didn't hesitate to put a knife through Finn's stomach..."

"I know and I'm so sorry Rachel," Shelby said starting to cry too.

"The thing is, he hesitated with me." Rachel continued. "He could have killed me right away but he didn't. And I think it was because I reminded him of you."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that as much as it kills me to admit this, I think Jesse meant it when he said that he loved you. I think in his own twisted way he really did."

"Jesse was an obsessive, mentally disturbed boy. He wasn't capable of loving anyone."

"Mom, I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the absolute, honest truth." Rachel said carefully. "Did you love Jesse?"

Shelby didn't answer right away, instead she gave Rachel a look that suggested a mix of conflict and heartbreak. At that she sank onto her bed. "I didn't, I mean it wasn't like that, it was just..." At that she looked down and rubbed her forehead in distress. Rachel had never seen Shelby at a loss for words before, it was foreign, yet strangely telling.

"It's okay, mom." Rachel said kneeling in front on her mother, her stitches pulling a little as she did. "Jesse was sick, that wasn't your fault. Sometimes we can't control who we fall for."

"I'm so stupid, I tried so hard to protect you from a perfectly decent guy and I'm the one who ends up going for the psycho."

"You're not stupid. Everything you have ever done has been for me. You we're lonely and Jesse was there. I understand."

Shelby nodded, still crying. "You're my life, that's how it's always been."

"But it can't be that way anymore mom. You deserve your own life, your own dreams. And I deserve mine," Rachel said. "I don't want this life anymore, I'm so tired of all of the hotel rooms and airports and never getting any sleep and having to put on this front all of the time. I want to be with Finn and our baby, I want a family, and I want to sing... on Broadway."

"Broadway is where world famous recording artists go when they their careers have started to die, yours is skyrocketing," Shelby argued.

"I know," Rachel said, nodding. "It doesn't make sense but it's what I want. It's what I've always wanted, ever since I played Dorothy in the third grade production of the Wizard of Oz. That desire never went away. And I want you to be happy mom."

"I am happy," Shelby said unconvincingly.

"No, you're not happy, you haven't been happy since long before dad left, but it's not too late." at that Rachel kissed Shelby's tear streaked cheek and stood up. "Another thing that this whole experience has taught me is that life is too short to live it for someone else. I need to start living it for me. I really hope that you do that same." and at that Rachel turned to leave.

"What was that about?" Mercedes said, entering the room.

Shelby looked up at Mercedes, her expression calm. "I think I've just been fired."

* * *

><p>Rachel greeted Finn with a kiss on the cheek as she entered the hospital room, he looked better every day and even the doctors where amazed by how fast he was healing. She could tell that he was still in a lot of pain, but it wasn't unrealistic to believe that he would be going home soon.<p>

"How are you feeling?" she said sweetly.

"A lot like I've been stabbed," Finn said. still grimacing a little as he talked. "How was the talk?"

"She took it okay I suppose."

"Are you talking about the same Shelby I'm talking about?"

"Yup," Rachel said, sitting on the corner of his bed. "I think deep down she's relieved. Now she can start picking up the pieces and so can I."

"I'm really proud of you you know that?" Finn said smirking at her and grabbing her hand.

"I'm kind of proud of me too, I feel like I'm finally growing up." She laid back onto his bed, placing her head against his.

He looked over at his fiancee, and he knew that underneath all of her bravery and newfound determination to start a new life were a lot of fears and painful memories that she wasn't ready to deal with yet. He knew that she would never trust the same way again and it would be a long time before she could close his eyes without seeing Jesse's face.

"So, are we just not going to talk about it?" Finn said after a few moments of silence.

"Mercedes scheduled an appointment with Dr. Emma Pillsbury, therapist to the stars," Rachel said. "Also I'm doing a morning show I figured there was no avoiding it."

"That's not what I meant," Finn said.

"I know," she said. "I promise when I'm ready to really talk about it you'll be the first to know."

"Okay," Finn said, lifting her hand up to his lips and planting a soft kiss to it. "When you're ready."

**Stay tuned for the epilogue folks!**


	16. Chapter 16

**This just took a ridiculously long time didn't it? Sorry about that folks, I was on a serious job huntathon all last week, the cutting of hours at my current job have made things a little too real. Of course I took a break from being all proactive in order to Catch Harry Potter 7.5, which was excellent by the way, anyway, enjoy this epilogue.**

She still wasn't crazy about the idea of leaving baby Maria Justine alone, they had settled on the name Maria in honor of West Side Story, one of Rachel's favorite musicals and the name Justine as a reference to Finn's favorite song, 1979 by the Smashing pumpkins. Shelby suggested, not entirely jokingly that they name the baby after her, Kurt, completely jokingly suggested Kurtrude, after him, insisting having a ridiculous name was like a rite of passage for showbiz babies, Carole favored the name Christine after Finn's father but Finn wanted to wait until he had a boy to name after his dad. Puck didn't have an idea for a name but he did offer to give the baby free MMA lessons should she ever return to LA in her later years. The birth of Maria made headlines in both the tabloids and in Finn and Rachel's personal circle. It was amazing how a new life could bring people together, even Shelby and Finn, no longer was he the man who stole her daughter away, he was instead the man that gave her a granddaughter, which was the greatest gift that she could ever imagine.

They still kept in touch with everyone. Puck often called to complain to Finn about Santana his newest charge, mostly about the fact that she refused to make out with Brittany in his presence, and he sent them pictures of his new baby Sebastian, a name that Puck agreed to only because he got pick the middle name Rocket and because he got to name Beth in the first place. Shelby got a new job at Rachel's old label as a producer and although she wasn't ready to start dating seriously again, she had managed to catch the eye of Bryan Ryan from the associated press and had been out with him a couple of times. Kurt never neglected to provide them all with the latest celebrity gossip since being employed as a make-up artist for E entertainment, and he made sure they were the first to know when Blaine proposed to him. They planned to marry in New York that coming spring.

With the move to New York they didn't have any built in babysitters to rely on. Rachel knew that it wasn't uncommon for famous women to hire nannies, and Maria's nanny Sunshine was just wonderful, not to mention a phenomenal singer of lullabies (Rachel insisted that whoever would be charged with taking care of Maria when she wasn't around should have stellar pipes ), still, leaving Maria alone was not something that Rachel wanted to get used to. Finn had a few appointments to make and Rachel had a television interview, her first television appearance since having the baby four months earlier. She was okay with Finn not appearing with her, the more she could keep her personal life and her public life separate the better. Although she had to admit the fact that she didn't have to hide her relationship with Finn anymore made things a lot easier for everyone.

"How have you been coping with the aftermath of what happened to you last year?" The gravel-voiced older gentleman interviewing her said.

"It's not something I choose to dwell on," Rachel answered confidently. "It was a very dark moment in my life, sure, but with all of the good fortune I've been given it almost feels wrong to keep living in that moment. I'm a very happy person, and nobody can take that away from me."

"Now you've received a lot of attention from the media about your decision to make the move to a Broadway career, especially now in the wake of being cast as the female lead in new musical stage comedy_ Dirty Hippies_, can you tell us a little bit more about how the transition has been for you?"

"I'm at peace with my decision. I have always dreamed of singing and acting onstage and at this time in my life it just feels like a natural transition. And I'm really proud to be a part of this show, I've been a fan of Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx for years and I couldn't be happier to be working with him. And I'm just so thankful that he gave me a chance to do this."

"Can you tell us a little more about this role?"

"I play all American girl Stacey Hightower who decides to throw caution to the wind and have a grand adventure, which ultimately leads to a drug and sex fueled cross-country trek to Woodstock that goes pretty awry. It's kind of like_ Hair_ meets _South Park_."

"It seems like you're dealing with some pretty adult themes there."

"Well it's Lopez and Marx so you can definitely expect some off-color material, but it's also very funny and touching."

"So have you completely ruled out the possibility of recording another album?"

"Music will always be my first love, I could never abandon it in any capacity," Rachel replied. "Being a wife and mother and being a part of this amazing show is just what I need right now, but I will never rule out the possibility of making another album."

"So Rachel, how is married life treating you?"

She knew that question was coming, and the truth was she really didn't want to answer it. She loved Finn, she loved Maria and being with them made her happier than anything else in the world, but Finn was her husband and Maria was her daughter, and sharing them with the rest of the world never seemed quite right to her. She could never adequately explain how she cried the first time Maria smiled at her or how she knew that Finn frequently dreamt of her by the way he mumbled in his sleep, that is when he didn't dream of being a pirate. She couldn't explain the way her heart leapt in her chest every time Finn kissed her or how during the first weeks of Maria's life she must have called Carole and Shelby hundreds of times with frantic questions about the strange noises and faces she made. Her career was one thing, but her family was sacred.

"It's amazing," Rachel finally said, simply and truthfully. "Married life is amazing."

* * *

><p>She pulled out her earpiece as she headed for the green room alongside her bodyguard Shannon. Shannon was awesome, probably the nicest woman Rachel had ever met, but she was also so physically intimidating that the psycho stalkers didn't stand a chance. Somehow she didn't miss having Finn as an employee, as amazing as he was as a bodyguard, he was so much better as a husband.<p>

"So what's the plan Stan?" Shannon said. "You meeting up with the husband?"

"He's shopping for mechanical bulls," Rachel said. "It's like an all day thing for him."

"Of course, he's a guy," Shannon said. "Speak of the devil."

Rachel looked forward and stopped short, instantly beaming at the sight of them.

"Finn what are you doing here?" she said, greeting him with a kiss. "And I can't believe you stole my widdle munchkin from Sunshine," Rachel said turning her attention to the smiling baby strapped to his chest.

"I have the best news ever, I just had to come tell you, and I wanted Maria to hear it too," Finn said excitedly.

"What's the big news?" Rachel said.

"I found a bull."

"Are you kidding?" Rachel said. "That's great, you've been looking for weeks."

"It's perfect, it's an antique but I got an amazing deal on it."

"Well seeing as you won't let me pay for anything..."

"Again with that?" Finn interrupted. "You already helped me buy the place I can handle the rest babe. I've been saving since I was 13."

"I know," she said. "And I'm so proud of you."

"You know, most guys would do a lot for good sugar mama," Shannon joked, elbowing him gently.

Finn chuckled a little at Shannon's joke. "So, do you want to see it?" he beamed.

"Absolutely, then we should all go out and celebrate, it's not everyday my husband finds the perfect mechanical bull." Rachel said kissing her husband once more before starting out the door.

**1979 is actually my personal favorite song (along With Modern Love by David Bowie and A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke), but somehow I don't think it's a stretch for it to be Finn's too. Anyway, ****That's all folks. As usual I loved every minute of writing this.**


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